Alternative Shakespeares

When critical theory met literary studies in the 1970s and 80s, some of the most radical and exciting theoretical work took as its subject the long mythologized, quasi-sacred figure of Shakespeare. Alternative Shakespeares is a unique collection of essays by founding figures in this movement to remake Shakespeare studies. Drawing upon revolutionary work in the semiotics of drama, post-structuralism, psychoanalysis, feminism and Marxism, each essay challenges the Shakespeare myth and the assumptions underlying traditional modes of criticism. Exploring such fundamental issues as text, meaning and subjectivity, the volume argues that there can be no unified subject 'Shakespeare' and that we must rather define and contest a series of alternative 'Shakespeares' according to our own perspectives. A new afterword by Robert Weimann outlines the extraordinary impact of this volume upon academic Shakespeare studies. However, the Shakespeare myth continues to thrive not only in Stratford but in our schools, making these essays as relevant and as powerful as they were upon publication. With an author list that reads like a 'who's who' of modern Shakespeare studies, Alternative Shakespeares simply must be read.