The Polesworth Circle: The Education of William Shakespeare

Building upon a thesis proposed by Arthur Gray, Master of Jesus College, Cambridge, this book contains a history play which dramatizes how Henry Goodyer, Thomas Burdett, and Raphael Holinshed, via a literary salon called the “Polesworth Circle,” educated, trained, and supported two of England’s most notable poets and playwrights, Michael Drayton and William Shakespeare. The book begins with an introduction (the six premises of the play) and an overview (abstract, cast, setting, time). The play, which consists of nine acts, begins with a prologue - a brief history of England and Polesworth.