The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 19.0065 Monday, 4 February 2008
From: Margaret Litvin <
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
>
Date: Friday, 01 Feb 2008 14:45:05 -0500
Subject: 19.0053 WS & GWB
Comment: Re: SHK 19.0053 WS & GWB
Have you seen Scott Newstok's witty and still surprisingly relevant 2003
analysis of the "W as Hal" phenomenon (with nice links) at
http://www.poppolitics.com/articles/2003/05/01/George-W-as-Henry-V ?
Another interesting moment: the 2004 debate "about Henry V" at the
Shakespeare Theatre in Washington (this was where David Brooks coined
the term "theocons"):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34918-2004May17.html And
Greenblatt on Clinton on Macbeth on ambition:
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/20073
The striking fact about Shakespeare references in American and British
political rhetoric is their individualism. Almost invariably, the
comparisons are between a colorful politician and a character in
Shakespeare (e.g., W=V, Tony Blair = Hamlet, Mario Cuomo = Hamlet).
Rarely in US/UK journalistic/polemical usage is a whole nation or
community compared to a Shakespeare character (e.g., Germany is Hamlet,
Russia is Hamlet, modern Arabs are Hamlet (e.g.
http://www.isim.nl/files/newsl_5.pdf , scroll down to page 11)) or a
Shakespearean situation (I think we tend to use Hobbes' Leviathan for
this). The one exception I can think of is the book Reviving Ophelia
(1995) -- our victims are still lumpable, I guess.
Also-if someone can generalize about performance patterns-would you say
Shakespeare's "political" plays (histories, Macbeth, JC, Coriolanus...)
have enjoyed more US productions since 9/11 or since the Iraq war began
than in the years previous?
Cheers,
Margaret Litvin
_______________________________________________________________
S H A K S P E R: The Global Shakespeare Discussion List
Hardy M. Cook,
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
The S H A K S P E R Web Site <http://www.shaksper.net>
DISCLAIMER: Although SHAKSPER is a moderated discussion list, the
opinions expressed on it are the sole property of the poster, and the
editor assumes no responsibility for them.
|
