One of the revelations for many readers will be how universal Shakespeare was in 19th century America. The Bible and a copy of his plays were the only books in most homes—and both were read. In Shakespeare in a Divided America, Columbia University English professor James Shapiro looks at how the Bard’s words played out at several key crossroads in the country’s history.
His thesis is that Shakespeare was invoked by both sides in arguments over slavery, immigration, women’s rights and sexual preference. At least in earlier times, fervent populists raging against the “elites” spouted Shakespeare as often as their opponents. Even The Taming of the Shrew, which “seems to have troubled theatergoers… as early as Shakespeare’s time,” was produced to mock as well as reinforce male dominance.
Controversy over Shakespeare reached a new peak with the Delacorte Theater’s 2017 Julius Caesar, staged in Central Park with a Donald Trump lookalike as Caesar. Of course, this triggered a false narrative from the Fox right and a social media hate deluge that swept over theater groups across the U.S.. The nuances of whether Julius Caesar or its Delacorte production advocates or condemns assassination as a means to an end got drowned in the ugly noise. Although Shakespeare is taught in 91% of American schools, according to a statistic that sounds better than reality, for the first time, Shapiro concedes, “one side [guess which?] no longer sees value in staging his plays.”
