Shakespeare for Freedom
Why the Plays Matter

Shakespeare for Freedom shows why Shakespeare has mattered for four hundred years, and why he still matters today.

Ewan Fernie (Author)

9781107130852, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 16 March 2017

336 pages
23.5 x 15.7 x 2 cm, 0.68 kg

'In this absorbing, passionate book, Ewan Fernie ranges through the histories (and geographies) of Shakespearean appropriation, and offers insightful readings of some of the plays' characters, in an effort to inspire contemporary audiences to revive Shakespeare's liberating political potential now … It is hard not to experience a profound admiration for Fernie's work …' Spenser Review

Shakespeare for Freedom presents a powerful, plausible and political argument for Shakespeare's meaning and value. It ranges across the breadth of the Shakespeare phenomenon, offering a new interpretation not just of the characters and plays, but also of the part they have played in theatre, criticism, civic culture and politics. Its story includes a glimpse of 'Freetown' in Romeo and Juliet, which comes to life in the 1769 Stratford Jubilee; the Shakespearean careers of the Leicester Chartist, Cooper, and the Hungarian hero, Kossuth; Hegel's recognition of Shakespearean freedom as the modern breakthrough; its fatal effects in America; the disgust it inspired in Tolstoy; its rehabilitation by Ted Hughes, and its obscure centrality in the 2012 Olympics. Ultimately, it issues a positive Shakespearean prognosis for freedom as a vital (in both senses), unending struggle. Shakespeare for Freedom shows why Shakespeare has mattered for four hundred years, and why he still matters today.

1. Reclaiming Shakespearean freedom
2. Shakespeare means freedom
3. 'Freetown!' (Romeo and Juliet)
4. Freetown-upon-Avon
5. Freetown-am-Main
6. Free artists of their own selves!
7. Freetown philosopher
8. Against Shakespearean freedom
9. The freedom of complete being.

Subject Areas: Shakespeare studies & criticism [DSGS], Literary studies: poetry & poets [DSC], Literary studies: c 1500 to c 1800 [DSBD], Literary studies: general [DSB], Literature: history & criticism [DS], Literature & literary studies [D]