---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Malone's commentary on Sonnet 93 was a…"
description: "\"“Malone's commentary on Sonnet 93 was a defining moment in the history not only of Shakespeare studies but also of literary biography in general. What ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d6/james-shapiro-62910_biography_malone-s-commentary-on-sonnet-93-was-a-d_2273032.jpg"
---

#  Malone's commentary on Sonnet 93 was a defining moment in…

![“Malone's commentary on Sonnet 93 was a defining moment in the history not only of Shakespeare studies but also of literary biography in general. What has emerged in our time as a dominant form of life writing can trace its lineage back to this extended footnote.” quote by James Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d6/james-shapiro-62910_biography_malone-s-commentary-on-sonnet-93-was-a-d_2273032.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d6/james-shapiro-62910_biography_malone-s-commentary-on-sonnet-93-was-a-d_2273032.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d6/james-shapiro-62910_biography_malone-s-commentary-on-sonnet-93-was-a-d_2273032.jpg)

> ““Malone's commentary on Sonnet 93 was a defining moment in the history not only of Shakespeare studies but also of literary biography in general. What has emerged in our time as a dominant form of life writing can trace its lineage back to this extended footnote.””

[James Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-shapiro/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Shakespeare's influence reshaped literary biography, linking personal narratives to scholarly analysis.

**In simple terms:** Shakespeare changed how we write life stories.

Key Takeaway

Recognize the impact of literary criticism on personal narratives.

Themes

literary criticism biography history influence scholarship

Mood

thoughtful analytical

Type

academic reflective

When to use this quote

- academic research
- writing workshops
- literary conferences
- teaching literature

Key Concepts

intertextuality canon formation narrative identity

Questions to Reflect On

- How does scholarly interpretation shape personal narratives?
- What responsibilities do critics have to their subjects?

A Different Perspective

Some argue that personal bias can distort historical accuracy.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Biography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biography/) [Defining moment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defining-moment/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Literary style](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literary-style/) [Malone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/malone/) [Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shakespeare/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/)

## Related quotes

> [“These then are some of my first memories. But of course as an account of my life they are misleading, because the things one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/these-then-are-some-of-my-first-memories-but-of-course-as-an-account/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

## More by James Shapiro

> [“It may take a decade or two before the extent of Shakespeare's collaboration passes from the graduate seminar to the undergraduate lecture, and finally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-shapiro/it-may-take-a-decade-or-two-before-the-extent-of-shakespeare-s/)

[James Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-shapiro/)

> [“Like every great writer before or since, Jonson understood that the best poets 'are both made and born'. That all great writing has to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-shapiro/like-every-great-writer-before-or-since-jonson-understood-that-the/)

[James Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-shapiro/)

> [ “\[Henry James'\] essay's closing lines can either be read neutrally or as a more purposeful wish that this mystery \[of Shakespeare's authorship\] will one… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-shapiro/henry-james-essay-s-closing-lines-can-either-be-read-neutrally-or-as/)

[James Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-shapiro/)

> [“We've inherited many ideas about writing that emerged in the eighteenth century, especially an interest in literature as both an expression and an exploration…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-shapiro/we-ve-inherited-many-ideas-about-writing-that-emerged-in-the/)

[James Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-shapiro/)

[Explore all 5 James Shapiro quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-shapiro/)

## More Biography quotes

> [I have my own biography of Gram Parsons - I don't want to be part of somebody else's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmylou-harris/i-have-my-own-biography-of-gram-parsons-i-don-t-want-to-be-part-of/)

[Emmylou Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmylou-harris/)

> [“If you can choose your way into a cage, you can choose your way out.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-kempton/if-you-can-choose-your-way-into-a-cage-you-can-choose-your-way-out/)

[Beth Kempton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-kempton/)

> [All Philosophy is Biography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-j-carroll/all-philosophy-is-biography/)

[Peter J. Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-j-carroll/)

> [I've read every Madonna biography. I've also looked up every pop star to see how they first made it. The biggest thing I learnt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marina-and-the-diamonds/i-ve-read-every-madonna-biography-i-ve-also-looked-up-every-pop-star/)

[Marina and the Diamonds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marina-and-the-diamonds/)

> [I went on a Buddha jag. I read 'Confession of a Buddhist Atheist' by Stephen Batchelor and Karen Armstrong's biography of Buddha, which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-o-hare/i-went-on-a-buddha-jag-i-read-confession-of-a-buddhist-atheist-by/)

[Denis O'Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-o-hare/)

> [“What drove us crazy wasn't necessarily the sexual freedom his critic claimed he was unleashing, but freedom, period. Freedom to be yourself, to express…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-spector-larry-geller-patricia-romanowski/what-drove-us-crazy-wasn-t-necessarily-the-sexual-freedom-his-critic/)

Joel Spector Larry Geller Patricia Romanowski

> [“Maybe he'd never come acrross anybody as well versed at objectifying body parts as I was. In my defense, this was an occupational hazard;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-shaw/maybe-he-d-never-come-acrross-anybody-as-well-versed-at-objectifying/)

[Aiden Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-shaw/)

> [It's time for male leaders to not only ask for binders of qualified women, but to re-write the definition of 'qualified.' The best man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-m-kunin/it-s-time-for-male-leaders-to-not-only-ask-for-binders-of-qualified/)

[Madeleine M. Kunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-m-kunin/)

> [“Pong had mutated into large stand-up Sega consoles by '82 and here was some extra revenue the guys were well up for. So the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-wilson/pong-had-mutated-into-large-stand-up-sega-consoles-by-82-and-here-was/)

[Tony Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-wilson/)

> [I think that I'm busy in the present, and I don't want to go back. Well, there's been an unauthorized biography, and you can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-finney/i-think-that-i-m-busy-in-the-present-and-i-don-t-want-to-go-back-well/)

[Albert Finney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-finney/)

> [“The trouble with life (the novelist will feel) is its amorphousness, its ridiculous fluidity. Look at it: thinly plotted, largely themeless, sentimental and ineluctably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-amis/the-trouble-with-life-the-novelist-will-feel-is-its-amorphousness-its/)

[Martin Amis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-amis/)

> [History is neither more nor less than biography on a large scale.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-de-lamartine/history-is-neither-more-nor-less-than-biography-on-a-large-scale/)

[Alphonse de Lamartine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-de-lamartine/)

> [“I don't know enough to have any regrets”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vince-grabin/i-don-t-know-enough-to-have-any-regrets/)

Vince Grabin

> [“Up to four chauffeurs, two secretaries, two personal maids, and a masseur traveled with her to each home”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/estella-m-chung/up-to-four-chauffeurs-two-secretaries-two-personal-maids-and-a/)

[Estella M. Chung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/estella-m-chung/)

> [I'm not spitting in my own soup, I love having spent my life thinking about these things-but you don't have to know anything about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-greenblatt/i-m-not-spitting-in-my-own-soup-i-love-having-spent-my-life-thinking/)

[Stephen Greenblatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-greenblatt/)

[Browse all 348 Biography quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biography/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“Malone's commentary on Sonnet 93 was a defining moment in the history not only of Shakespeare studies but also of literary biography in general. What has emerged in our time as a dominant form of life writing can trace its lineage back to this extended footnote.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "James Shapiro"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-shapiro/malone-s-commentary-on-sonnet-93-was-a-defining-moment-in-the-history/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Biography"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-shapiro/malone-s-commentary-on-sonnet-93-was-a-defining-moment-in-the-history/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d6/james-shapiro-62910_biography_malone-s-commentary-on-sonnet-93-was-a-d_2273032.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d6/james-shapiro-62910_biography_malone-s-commentary-on-sonnet-93-was-a-d_2273032.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d6/james-shapiro-62910_biography_malone-s-commentary-on-sonnet-93-was-a-d_2273032.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Malone's commentary on Sonnet 93 was a defining moment in the history not only of Shakespeare studies but…” — James Shapiro",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "James Shapiro",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-shapiro/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“Malone's commentary on Sonnet 93 was...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-shapiro/malone-s-commentary-on-sonnet-93-was-a-defining-moment-in-the-history/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-shapiro/malone-s-commentary-on-sonnet-93-was-a-defining-moment-in-the-history/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
