Shakespeare at War
A Material History
Published on 17. August 2023
Book
Hardback
280 pages
978-1-316-51748-2 (ISBN)
Description
Presenting engaging, thought-provoking stories across centuries of military activity, this book demonstrates just how extensively Shakespeare's cultural capital has been deployed at times of national conflict. Drawing upon scholarly expertise in Shakespeare and War Studies, first-hand experience from public military figures and insights from world-renowned theatre directors, this is the first material history of how Shakespeare has been used in wartime. Addressing home fronts and battle fronts, the collection's broad chronological coverage encompasses the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence, the Napoleonic Wars, the Russian War, the First and Second World Wars, and the Iraq War. Each chapter reveals an archival object that tells us something about who 'recruited' Shakespeare, what they did with him, and to what effect. Richly illustrated throughout, the collection uniquely uncovers the agendas that Shakespeare has been enlisted to support (and critique) at times of great national crisis and loss.
Reviews / Votes
'Amy Lidster and Sonia Massai have assembled an impressive slate of international contributors to explore the wartime deployment of Shakespeare over the span of two and a half centuries of British history. The volume's emphasis on material artifacts-broadsheets, props, newspaper articles, posters and pamphlets, among others-is particularly exciting, as is its examination of the surprisingly complex and variable roles that Shakespeare has played in times of military conflict.' Garrett Sullivan Jr, The Pennsylvania State University 'Contributions from Shakespeare scholars, historians, theatre professionals and former members of the military span 400 years of examples, revealing how Shakespeare's plays have been so often deployed in justifying actions in or toward war. The complex realities of Shakespeare at war are animated not simply through textual analysis of familiar plays but equally by a dazzling range of material resources-props, playbills, production photos and posters among them. Shakespeare at war has been, as this collection amply illustrates, a topic for all time, but it is inescapably relevant, even urgent, now and readers will be richly rewarded for their engagement with the breadth of ideas and iterations explored here.' Susan Bennett, University of Calgary 'Who better than Shakespeare is there to tell us what men and women face and feel 'when blood is their argument'? The appropriation of the Bard in violent times and the staggering variety of images, beliefs, rhetoric and parody his plays offer to those afflicted by war are at the heart of this dazzling and delightful book.' Jay Winter, Yale University 'I was drawn into this absorbing book, a wide-ranging collection of essays which bear out what the editors say about Shakespeare's plays being 'embedded' in our culture. The collection admits a marked plurality of voices and histories, reminding us that the past is altered by the present, just as the present is directed by the past. As warfare changes, so do we; and as we change, so too, perhaps, does Shakespeare.' Hugh Quarshie 'Recommended.' S. Magedanz, CHOICEMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises
Dimensions
Height: 250 mm
Width: 175 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
730 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-316-51748-2 (9781316517482)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
08/2023
Cambridge University Press
€25.99
Available for download
Persons
Content
Introduction: A Material History Amy Lidster and Sonia Massai; 1. 'The truth for which we are fighting': David Garrick's The Tempest (1756) and inclusive Britishness during the seven years' war Sonia Massai; 2. The seven years' war (1756-1763) and Garrick's Shakespearean Nationalism Jonathan Crimmins; 3. Revolutionary Shakespeare: Julius Caesar and the rhetorical fashioning of ideologies of freedom Esther B. Schupak; 4. Hamlet mobilized: political parody during the Napoleonic wars Amy Lidster; 5. Shakespeare, the north-west passage, and the Russian war Irena R. Makaryk; 6. Now for our Irish wars': Shakespeare, colonialism, and nationalism in Ireland Andrew Murphy; 7. Shakespeare and the survival of middle England: weekly journals, 1914-18 Stuart Sillars; 8. Ellen Terry stars at the Shakespeare hut Ailsa Grant Ferguson; 9. The 1916 Shakespeare tercentenary at N? 1 camp in Calais Monika Smialkowska; 10. Shakespeare does his bit for the war effort: authorship and material culture in the 1917 British Red Cross Shakespeare exhibition Clara Calvo; 11. Germanizing Shakespeare during the First World War Marius S. Ostrowski; 12. Readers and rebels: Ireland, Shakespeare and the 1916 easter rising Katherine Hennessey; 13. Forgotten histories: the barnbow lasses in Maggie Smales's Henry V (upstage centre, 41 Monkgate, York, 2015) an interview with Maggie Smales; 14. Now good or bad, 'tis but the chance of war': counter-punching against appeasement Robert Sawyer; 15. 'Precurse of feared events': a pre-war hamlet at Elsinore, 1939 Anne Sophie Refskou; 16. But what are we fighting for? The role of Shakespeare and the arts in wartime Britain Ros King; 17. Henry V and the battle of powerscourt Edward Corse; 18. Unser Shakespeare in Nazi Germany Richard Ned Lebow; 19. Framing the Jew: Julia Pascal's The Shylock play (Arcola theatre, London, 2007) an interview with Julia Pascal; 20. G. Wilson Knight's 'Royal Propaganda' in 'This Sceptred Isle' (1941) Reiko Oya; 21. Shakespeare's desert camouflage Ramona Wray; 22. 'May I with right and conscience make this claim?': Testing the 'just war' tradition in Nicholas Hytner's Henry V (National Theatre, 2003) An interview with Nicholas Hytner; 23. Henry V and the invasion of Iraq Tim Collins; 24. Who pays the price: Maria Aberg on Roy Williams's days of significance (Royal Shakespeare Company, 2007) an interview with Maria Aberg; 25. 'Mere prattle, without practice, is all his soldiership': shaping the soldier in Nicholas Hytner's Othello (National Theatre, 2013) Jonathan Shaw; 26. 'Thou hast set me on the Rack': torture and modern warfare in Iqbal Khan's Othello (Royal Shakespeare company, 2015) an interview with Iqbal Khan; Afterword Emma Smith.