The Passions of the Mind

William Shakespeare, one of the literary greats of Elizabethan England, a figure of mystery and romance for centuries, finally gets a chance to air his thoughts. His drama and plays are world famous, but the historical mystery of his family and friends' lives have been speculated upon by generations of scholars... During the final moments of his life, William Shakepeare, suffering fevered delirium, begins to recount the scenes of past days, and remember the faces of the family and friends who gave him inspiration for the mystery and romance of his drama and plays. From the loyal wife and child he left in Stratford to pursue a career in London, to the literary greats of Marlowe and old John Bower whose influence stayed with him throughout his fifty-two years, the life of this giant of Elizabethan England will never be seen in the same way again. How did that infuriating final scene of The Taming of the Shrew really come about? What actually was it that made him go to London in the first place? Was there really a Dark Lady, and if so, who was she? What tortured nightmare vision lay behind the writing of King Lear?