This was such an enjoyable read which guides the reader through Shakespeare’s work and gives a brief but fascinating analysis. I found it quirky and witty and I believe anyone with an interest in these plays will find this book an interesting and informative read.

When I took English Literature classes at school, studying a Shakespeare play was de rigueur. And I can’t say I disliked that. Quite the contrary. I took a (worryingly?) nerdish pleasure in comparing different editions of Julius Caesar and Macbeth, reading every last footnote, looking up difficult essays on the plays. And yet, this precocious enthusiasm failed to translate into love for the Bard. It pains me to admit that besides these two plays, my knowledge of other works by Shakespeare works is limited to the few productions and movie adaptations I’ve watched over the years. I have occasionally attempted to read other plays of his, but it always seems too daunting a prospect.

In her introduction to This is Shakespeare, Professor Emma Smith highlights this problematic aspect of the playwright. Precisely because he is so often presented as an undisputed genius, Shakespeare too often comes across as a figure to admire rather than love. Smith, however, argues that what makes Shakespeare so “contemporary” and relevant is not that he is some sort of prophet, but because his plays are “gappy”, leaving much to interpretation, and allowing us to project onto them differing and sometimes diametrically opposite views. Just by way of example, it is surprising to note how rare it is for Shakespeare to physically describe his characters, thus giving free rein to a director’s (or reader’s) imagination.

Smith’s book started life as a series of lectures/podcasts and while the playwright’s “gappiness” remains an overarching theme, the book’s twenty chapters (and epilogue) are dedicated to specific plays and can be enjoyed as self-contained essays. Indeed, Smith herself suggests that for many of her readers, this will be a book to “dip into”, perhaps before going to watch a specific play.

The chapters provide intriguing insights and, more often than not, a discussion of one work leads Smith to investigate a more general subject. For instance, The Taming of the Shrew (unsurprisingly) prompts a discussion about Shakespeare’s views on women and marriage, whereas the essay on The Merchant of Venice explores the themes of business contracts and the play’s inherent homoeroticism.

Smith’s approach is fresh and engaging. She wears her scholarship and erudition lightly, and does not deem it beneath her to cite pop culture to drive home her points – she is just as likely to refer to Homer Simpson or to an episode in the sitcom Friends as to an avant-garde Shakespeare production. Throughout, her message is at once iconoclastic and enthusiastic – by taking Shakespeare off his pedestal, we might learn to love his works more.

I love Emma Smith’s The Cambridge Shakespeare Guide, so I was nothing short of excited to dive into this new book. In this one, the author shows her critical views on a portion of the playwright’s works. What I loved the most about This is Shakespeare is that Smith clings on the smaller plots for her chapters, for instance: the murder of Cinna, the poet, in Caesar (which is a very short scene in the play); the whole arc with Portia’s caskets in Merchant; Shakespeare’s farewell to the theater with Tempest instead of focusing on the play’s common post-colonialist discussions. Her arguments might not be anything new to people who have been studying the Bard for a while, but as I’m fairly new to the subject, a bunch of it felt very refreshing to me. I learned a lot reading this – it gave me a lot to think about and I got to see most plays through a new lens – and even though it doesn’t cover all of Shakespeare’s plays, it still ended up as one of my favorite books on his career.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for granting me a digital copy in exchange of an honest review!

Professor Emma Smith is a Shakespeare expert and Oxford University lecturer who I had only encountered previously as a result of her 'Approaching Shakespeare' podcasts. She really knows her subject inside out, but the refreshing thing about this book is the lightness of touch. I've read a lot of books on Shakespeare (it comes with the English graduate and teacher territory), but few are as engaging and readable as this one without skimping on the academics.

In this book, Professor Smith takes the plays one at a time and presents a shortish essay/chapter on each. These essays are ordered roughly chronologically, although obviously we can never be entirely sure of the exact order in which the plays were produced. Each chapter addresses a play from a different or unusual perspective, so opens out some interesting thoughts about Shakespeare's biography, sources, intentions, themes, characters...the list goes on and Professor Smith takes the essay wherever is interesting rather than having any particular set formula for her writing. This means she moves between topics fluidly and avoids labouring points. Her approach is always rigorously academic and scrupulously referenced, yet full of humour and surprising elements - I loved her defence of Keanu Reeves' acting in 'Much Ado about Nothing' on the basis that it is his character rather than Keanu who is as wooden as a wardrobe! She never shies away from more controversial ideas either, such as the idea that if 'The Tempest' was Shakespeare's swansong and the character of Prospero intended as parallel to Shakespeare himself (as is a commonly accepted idea), then perhaps we wouldn't have liked Shakespeare (as a man) much. In other essays, she identifies plot holes, discusses source texts and how reactions to plays have changed over the 400 years or so since they were written. The idea isn't that this is a definitive guide, but that the plays cannot be pinned down and explained as they continue to develop different meanings to different audiences.

I feel that I've written a lot about this book without really grappling with even a fraction of the fascinating ideas put forward. It certainly gave me a lot to think about in relation to the Shakespeare plays I know and love, but also a way into the ones I don't know so well. It even made me reconsider the plays I know and really don't love!

This is a fantastic book about Shakespeare for everyone from the casual reader to Shakespeare fans, from those who want to know a bit more about their favourite play to those engaged in academic study. It is entertaining, surprising in places and entirely readable - not a given for books in this field usually.

The author Emma Smith provides the reader with a neat handbook to use whenever one watches or reads a Shakespeare play. What I very much appreciate is the unobstructed view on what is really there.
I was fed up with all the baggage and preconceived opinions that had been dumped on Shakespeare's work by a self-declared cultural elite, bored teachers and other gatekeepers that couldn't be bothered to approach the plays in any other way than what they declared as the definitive view.
Emma Smith gives me options, changes perspectives, strips away what we assume and instead looks at what is on the page and what isn't, and what directors and actors actually make of it.
I love to watch a play and afterwards consult this book to see what I missed, how the stage production interpreted it and what else might have been possible.

This book initially appeared to be an introductory/"how to read" guide to Shakespeare, however it assumes the reader has at least some level of knowledge regarding the plays discussed and I feel having this added to my enjoyment of the book.

It is not comprehensive in its analysis - with each chapter essentially being a short essay - but it offers a different perspective on some of Shakespeares more famous works with a good balance of humour and narration.

Overall, an interesting interpretation and criticism of Shakespeares work, language and universal appeal.

Thanks to Penguin Press UK – Allen Lane, Particular, Pelican, Penguin Classics and NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a fantastic introduction to academic writing. Even though I'm studying for my master's now, I felt like Smith guided me through Shakespeare's plays carefully whilst gently pushing me towards points to consider. It's perfect for anyone planning on studying English Literature in further studies or who is interested in Shakespeare.

But, that's not entirely true - because Smith makes Shakespeare more approachable. Even those people who have found Shakespeare to be complex and unobtainable should pick this book up. Plays that, until now, have confused me or seemed a little too smart suddenly seemed to make sense. Smith's colloquial language engaged me, I saw her as a friend sharing a passion rather than an academic lecturing about Shakespeare.

This is Shakespeare certainly achieved its goal: even before I had finished I begged my girlfriend to let us watch Macbeth and Hamlet. Right now, I'm considering picking up some of the plays I've not yet read or attempted to read and gave up on. I can't recommend this one enough, no matter who you are - a Shakespeare fan, a hater, a teacher, an academic, a student - this book is essential.

At last, a crossover book for the general reader which actually treats Shakespeare in the way that he is thought about, taught, researched and written about in modern academia: not some kind of 'timeless' (how is it even possible to be outside time?), ahistorical, untouchable figure of 'genius' (what is that, anyway?), but as a shortcut to a body of texts (this only deals with the plays) which are textually unstable, contingent, probing and open - what Smith terms full of 'gappiness'. What she highlights in her readings are the debates, questionings and complexities that these plays articulate - the way they remain open rather than being closed down to a fixed meaning. What she highlights are the contemporary concerns: identity politics (gender, race, sexuality), war and conflict, how history is made and remade through story-telling. As someone who has taught Shakespeare for around 10 years at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, this is a book I'd recommend widely, from A level students to the interested theatre-goer with no literary background. Smith is fun, accessible, and lively, and up-to-date.