Book Review: "Mad About Shakespeare" by Jonathan Bate

Ooh as we are on the topic of the books I read in university and now I'm re-reading them (or, in fact I started reading them in university and then had to abandon them for other books that were more required, boo), I would like to go through this one because as much as I read Jonathan Bate - I must have completely missed this one.*

*Since the writing of this review I found out the book was published in 2022 and finishing my undergraduate more than five years before that year might be the reason I 'missed this one'. That'll teach me to skip the publishing page.

Jonathan Bate is a great mind, and I have recently reserved quite a bit of his stuff at the library. On my degree, I read books such as The Genius of Shakespeare and Radical Wordsworth, finishing Soul of the Age last. I have to admit, I recently had a go at How the Classics Made Shakespeare and the one thing I love about Jonathan Bate through all of these books is how accessible he is. You do not need to be a Shakespeare academic to understand anything in these books. It opens up a whole world to those of us who just appreciate him on a spiritual level (like you and me). So, let's take a look at Mad About Shakespeare. It is fantastic...

The author presents Shakespeare not just as a subject of academic study but as a lifelong companion through personal struggles and triumphs. He recounts how Shakespeare’s works have been a source of comfort, wisdom, and intellectual engagement from his school days to adulthood. The book blends literary analysis with memoir, showing how Shakespeare's words resonate beyond the classroom and theatre, shaping personal and professional experiences. Honestly, this reminds me of Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Dame Judi Dench where she recounts the importance of Shakespeare in her life. These are the kind of books which really get the Shakespeare fans going. We connect and bond over how much of a positive impact the bard has had on our lives.

One of the book’s most important themes is the link between Shakespeare and mental health. The author explores how Shakespeare’s works depict psychological distress, particularly in characters like Hamlet, Lear, and Ophelia. Drawing from personal experiences with mental health crises he suggests that Shakespeare’s language provides a way to articulate and understand emotional turmoil. He discusses how poetry and drama can offer solace during dark times. I was definitely looking on doing an article on Shakespeare and mental health but I thought nobody would really want to read it. After reading Jonathan Bate's links between the two I have come to understood that the topic is far bigger and more complex than what I was initially thinking about.

Jonathan Bate weaves his personal experiences of grief with an exploration of Shakespeare’s treatment of loss. He discusses how plays like King Lear, Hamlet, and Macbeth offer profound insights into mourning, fate, and human suffering. The raw emotions in these tragedies mirror real-life experiences of loss, making Shakespeare a great guide in times of sorrow. I have to say that this really does remind me of times of strife in my own life where in the end, you have to go back to the bard. Whenever I feel like I need a friend, I read someone's book about Shakespeare and I have one again. This isn't just in the bard himself but in the person who took their time to write a good book about him or his works.

All in all, throughout the book Jonathan Bate returns to the power of Shakespeare’s language as a means of survival. Whether in times of joy, grief, confusion, or clarity, Shakespeare’s words provide a huge hug. Bate reflects on how memorising lines, reciting sonnets, or simply immersing oneself in Shakespearean verse can be a grounding, healing practice, connecting us to centuries of human experience. And I honestly cannot argue at all. It is therapeutic as hell!