Review by Choice Review
Schalkwyk (Univ. of Cape Town, South Africa) usefully extends the inquiry regarding the omnipresent concept and practice of service in Shakespeare's poems and plays--a conversation opened recently by such scholars as Michael Neill (in "Servile Ministers," 2004) and David Evett (in Discourses of Service in Shakespeare's England, 2005). Schalkwyk's contribution is to demonstrate how service was profoundly connected to love in Old World European culture, particularly by Shakespeare, who repeatedly stresses the need for an "equitable and free exchange of mutual affection" under conditions of service. In seven chapters, the author convincingly examines how Shakespeare aligns love's bestowal with "deep forms of service" in The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Comedy of Errors, The Tempest, The Sonnets, Twelfth Night, Timon of Athens, Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, Antony and Cleopatra, King Lear, Othello, and The Winter's Tale. Well researched and written, this study shows that for Shakespeare, though freedom from service was nearly unimaginable, masters in his plays are often "never so truly served as when opposed." A compelling book. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers, all levels. A. DiMatteo New York Institute of Technology
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
