An anthology that traces how Shakespeare has shaped American history and culture-featuring pieces by Founding Fathers, Orson Welles, and other noteworthy figures "The history of Shakespeare in America," writes James Shapiro in his introduction to this groundbreaking anthology, "is also the history of America itself." Shakespeare was a central, inescapable part of America's literary inheritance, and a prism through which crucial American issues-revolution, slavery, war, social justice-were refracted and understood. ...
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An anthology that traces how Shakespeare has shaped American history and culture-featuring pieces by Founding Fathers, Orson Welles, and other noteworthy figures "The history of Shakespeare in America," writes James Shapiro in his introduction to this groundbreaking anthology, "is also the history of America itself." Shakespeare was a central, inescapable part of America's literary inheritance, and a prism through which crucial American issues-revolution, slavery, war, social justice-were refracted and understood. In tracing the many surprising forms this influence took, Shapiro draws on many genres-poetry, fiction, essays, plays, memoirs, songs, speeches, letters, movie reviews, comedy routines-and on a remarkable range of American writers from Emerson, Melville, Lincoln, and Mark Twain to James Agee, John Berryman, Pauline Kael, and Cynthia Ozick. Americans of the revolutionary era ponder the question "to sign or not to sign;" Othello becomes the focal point of debates on race; the Astor Place riots, set off by a production of Macbeth, attest to the violent energies aroused by theatrical controversies; Jane Addams finds in King Lear a metaphor for American struggles between capital and labor. Orson Welles revolutionizes approaches to Shakespeare with his legendary productions of Macbeth and Julius Caesar; American actors from Charlotte Cushman and Ira Aldridge to John Barrymore, Paul Robeson, and Marlon Brando reimagine Shakespeare for each new era. The rich and tangled story of how Americans made Shakespeare their own is a literary and historical revelation. As a special feature, the book includes a foreword by Bill Clinton, among the latest in a long line of American presidents, including John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and Abraham Lincoln, who, as the collection demonstrates, have turned to Shakespeare's plays for inspiration.
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Very Good in Very Good jacket. First Edition Thus. Not price-clipped ($29.95 price intact). Published by The Library of America, 2014. Octavo. Red cloth boards stamped in gold. Book is very good; clean with no writing or names. Sharp corners and spine straight. Binding tight and pages crisp. Dust jacket is very good with light shelf wear and a small tear on top of spine. Small publisher's mark on bottom page ends. 723 pages. ISBN: 9781598532951. 100% positive feedback. 30 day money back guarantee. NEXT DAY SHIPPING! Excellent customer service. Please email with any questions or if you would like a photo. All books packed carefully and ship with free delivery confirmation/tracking. All books come with free bookmarks. Ships from Southampton, New York. We Buy Books! Individual titles, libraries, collections. Message us if you have books to sell!
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Good. This is a former library book with library stickers and stamps. 100% of this purchase will support literacy programs through a nonprofit organization!
