Scan barcode
A review by tracithomas
Shakespeare in a Divided America: What His Plays Tell Us about Our Past and Future by James Shapiro
2.0
As a lover of Shakespeare I can’t help but think of the lack of Shakespeare criticism coming from younger writers, from Black and brown writers, from women and trans writers, from queer writers, and from writers in so many other marginalized groups. I don’t know that this book needed to exist.
•
•
Shapiro isn’t saying anything new. His perspective is neither fresh nor critical when we think about American culture and how it’s created and sustained. I can imagine a better version of this book that subverts and challenges thinking instead of playing into white male America’s notions of itself. The book has a few glimpses of this in the introduction and conclusion but everything in between falls short.
•
•
Shapiro isn’t saying anything new. His perspective is neither fresh nor critical when we think about American culture and how it’s created and sustained. I can imagine a better version of this book that subverts and challenges thinking instead of playing into white male America’s notions of itself. The book has a few glimpses of this in the introduction and conclusion but everything in between falls short.