By delving into a series of conceptual and linguistic themes, this book aims to further demonstrate the spread and influence of Italian culture in 16th-century England. It does so by exploring the relationships between Shakespeare and the Italian humanists, focusing in particular on Alberti, Machiavelli, Guicciardini, Bruno, and Campanella. The interpretation these thinkers offer of the dramatic - and sometimes tragic - dimension of human existence, is extraordinary in both its range and its deep autobiographicalinvolvement, and their voices resonate - sometimes clearly, sometimes subtly - within Shakespeare's great tragedies.