Dimensions
127 x 184 x 14mm
If you look closely, Shakespeare is all around us. From nightclubs and suburban mall food courts to the theatre where Lincoln died, in voting booths in the American South and in the trash of Central Park -- William Shakespeare's literary power is so intense and so widespread that it intrudes into the material world. HOW SHAKESPEARE CHANGED EVERYTHING, from Esquire columnist Stephen Marche, takes us on a delightful tour through the continuous stream of Shakespeare's influence on the world stage.
The gifted playwright who moves audiences to laughter and tears has also moved history. Do any other poets even begin to change our behaviour or our environment? Commemorating the death of W.B. Yeats, W.H. Auden wrote: "poetry makes nothing happen. It exists in the valley of its saying where executives would never want to tamper." Shakespeare has wandered away from the valley of his saying and hangs around in the most unlikely corners, whether it be in South African prisons and 1950s teen rebel movies, or in Carnivals in the Grenadine islands and in psychoanalysts' offices.
Likewise, Marche summons up the great bard in the most unexpected places. He explains the political currency of Shakespeare in both democracies and totalitarian regimes; during World War II, Churchill, Hitler, and Stalin all appealed to Shakespeare's works. Drawing upon the tragic, adolescent love of Romeo & Juliet, Marche suggests how this pair of star crossed lovers may be the original emo teenagers of their time.
Packed with fun and fascinating tidbits, HOW SHAKESPEARE CHANGED EVERYTHING takes a deep look at how Shakespeare permeates our everyday lives, but, more importantly, how the world as we know it would not exist without Shakespeare.
