In her introduction, Lilian Winstanley writes, ``It is the purpose of the following essay to study the play `Hamlet' from a somewhat fresh point of view by endeavoring to show its relation or possible relation to contemporary history.'' To appreciate the mind-set of this Elizabethan audience and therefore the mind of Shakespeare we are about to receive a 16th century history lesson. It will cover the material suggested in the titles of Prof. Winstanley's three Shakespeare books:
1) Hamlet and the Scottish Succession: Being an Examination of the Relations of the Play of Hamlet to the Scottish Succession and the Essex Conspiracy
2) Macbeth, King Lear & contemporary history: Being a study of the relations of the play of Macbeth to the personal history of James I, the Darnley murder, ... and also of King Lear as symbolic mythology
3) "Othello" as the tragedy of Italy: Showing that Shakespeare's Italian contemporaries interpreted the story of the Moor and the lady of Venice as symbolizing ... of their country in the grip of Spain
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