Shakespearean Constitutions: Politics, Theater, Criticism 1730-1830

by Jonathan Bate

The first serious study of Shakespeare's pervasive presence in English cultural life in the 18th and early 19th centuries, this work examines how during times of political stress both "establishment" and "radical" culture tend to compete for possession of the national poet. In a
groundbreaking analysis, Bate reveals this process at work in the brilliant political satires of Gillray, the Cruikshanks and other caricaturists, and in the performances and interpretation of the plays of the period, including such phenomena as Garrick's Jubilee and Boydell's picture gallery. At
the very heart of the argument is Hazlitt, bringing Shakespeare to bear on contemporary life, responding to Edmund Kean in the theater, and developing radically new readings of the plays.

248 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1989

About the author

Jonathan Bate CBE FBA FRSL is an English academic, biographer, critic, broadcaster, novelist and scholar of Shakespeare, Romanticism and Ecocriticism. He is also Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford and Provost of Worcester College, Oxford. A Man Booker Prize judge in 2014.

He studied at the University of Cambridge and Harvard University. He has been King Alfred Professor of English Literature at Liverpool University, Professor of Shakespeare and Renaissance Literature at the University of Warwick. He is married to author and biographer Paula Byrne. He has also written one novel, The Cure for Love.

Reviews

[Nick Rasche · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just a quick note that, like all of Bates’s books on Shakespeare (and indeed all of his books) this is well worth reading but it is incredibly difficult to track down: if you find a copy and have any interest in the subject matter, grab it quick! And thanks to my lovely partner who managed to track it down for me after years of fruitless searching on my part.