Why memory?” Hester Lees-Jeffries asks at the beginning of this absorbing book, but by the end of her compelling analysis it is tempting to think that there is nothing in Shakespeare’s work but meditations upon, versions of, or entanglements in, memory. Lees-Jeffries thoroughly reads the entire works through various models of recollection (and forgetting), and along the way takes the reader on a quick spin through contemporary thinking about the early modern period, from work on manuscript and material culture to considerations of nationalism, sensory responses to text and performative affect. Memory studies has proven to be a rich vein of investigation for many disciplines over the past 20 years, and Shakespeare criticism has had its key moments in this area too, from work considering rehearsal practice to investigations of history and national identity. Lees-Jeffries contends that “Shakespeare both engaged with and changed the ways in which people remembered”, and she demonstrates this with some distinction.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 201-215) and index.