Shakespeare the Bodger

Drawing inspiration from Robert Greene's deathbed attack on Shakespeare as "e;an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers,"e; The Bodger (Elizabethan variant of "e;botcher,"e; "e;mender,"e; "e;patcher"e;) argues that Shakespeare's dramas are compositions of "e;shreds and patches"e; pieced together by a mind of extraordinary synthetic acuity. Such patches include passages of dialogue that, as described in the sixteenth century, "e;lead objects before our eyes"e; by means of ekphrasis. The book offers substantial art-historical research into the only visual artist named by Shakespeare, Giulio Romano--who performs an important role in The Winter's Tale as the alleged sculptor of a statue of the dead Queen. Giulio, heir to Raphael's workshop, is known primarily as a painter and architect. My research has revealed that he was also a designer of sculpture. Applying historical and theoretical materials to close readings of several plays, I focus on the most critical issues of The Winter's Tale-King Leontes' sudden fit of jealousy; Shakespeare's introduction of a surrogate playwright in the personification of Time, who refashions the play from tragedy to comedy, assisted by a behind-the-scenes female ghost writer; and the Queen's statue amazingly "e;coming to life"e; through an interactive declaration of faith.