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Reinventing Shakespeare: A Cultural History from the Restoration to the Present
As an actor, William Shakespeare reinvented himself almost every day. At the height of his career, he often performed in six different plays on six consecutive days. He stopped reinventing himself when he died on April 23, 1616, but, as Gary Taylor tells us in this bold, provocative,
irreverent history of Shakespeare's reputation through the ages, we have been reinventing him ever since.
Taylor, who sparked a worldwide controversy in 1985 by announcing his discovery of a "new" Shakespeare poem "Shall I die?," presents a brilliantly argued, wryly humorous discussion of the ways in which society "reinvents" Shakespeare--and to some extent all great literature--to suit its own
ends. He reveals how Shakespeare's reputation has benefited from such diverse and unpredictable factors as the dearth of new plays after the Restoration; the decline of tragedy in the eighteenth century, when, as Taylor puts it, "Shakespeare was kept on the menu because he was the only serious dish
[the repertoire companies] knew how to cook"; the changing social status of women in the nineteenth century; England's longstanding rivalry with France, which turned Shakespeare into the great advocate of conservative British values; and the current trend in academia toward shockingly unorthodox
views, which has turned Shakespeare into the great ally of radical Marxist and feminist critics.
Through the centuries, critics have cited the same Shakespeare--often the very same play--as the supporter of a vast array of world views. Examining each period's method of invoking the Bard's "greatness" to support a series of conflicting values, Taylor questions what actually constitutes
greatness. He insists on examining the criteria of each epoch on its own terms in order to demonstrate how literary criticism can often become the most telling form of social commentary. Reinventing Shakespeare offers nothing less than a major reevaluation of Shakespeare, his writing, his place in
world history, and the very bases of aesthetic judgment.
irreverent history of Shakespeare's reputation through the ages, we have been reinventing him ever since.
Taylor, who sparked a worldwide controversy in 1985 by announcing his discovery of a "new" Shakespeare poem "Shall I die?," presents a brilliantly argued, wryly humorous discussion of the ways in which society "reinvents" Shakespeare--and to some extent all great literature--to suit its own
ends. He reveals how Shakespeare's reputation has benefited from such diverse and unpredictable factors as the dearth of new plays after the Restoration; the decline of tragedy in the eighteenth century, when, as Taylor puts it, "Shakespeare was kept on the menu because he was the only serious dish
[the repertoire companies] knew how to cook"; the changing social status of women in the nineteenth century; England's longstanding rivalry with France, which turned Shakespeare into the great advocate of conservative British values; and the current trend in academia toward shockingly unorthodox
views, which has turned Shakespeare into the great ally of radical Marxist and feminist critics.
Through the centuries, critics have cited the same Shakespeare--often the very same play--as the supporter of a vast array of world views. Examining each period's method of invoking the Bard's "greatness" to support a series of conflicting values, Taylor questions what actually constitutes
greatness. He insists on examining the criteria of each epoch on its own terms in order to demonstrate how literary criticism can often become the most telling form of social commentary. Reinventing Shakespeare offers nothing less than a major reevaluation of Shakespeare, his writing, his place in
world history, and the very bases of aesthetic judgment.
480 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
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About the author
Gary Taylor
123 books3 followersGary Taylor is George Matthew Edgar Professor of English at Florida State University.
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There is more than one author with this name
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 15, 2009
Also referenced:
Bate, Jonathan. The Genius of Shakespeare. 1998. New York: Oxford UP, 2008.
Gary Taylor, partnering with Stanley Wells, was joint general editor of Oxford’s 1986 and 2005 editions of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare in both old and revised spelling. He has published and edited several books and articles on Shakespeare, and has recently edited The Complete Works of Thomas Middleton. He is now the Director of the interdisciplinary History of Text Technologies program at Florida State University. Taylor’s book Reinventing Shakespeare was originally published in 1990.
The thesis of Taylor’s book Reinventing Shakespeare is that William Shakespeare was perhaps not a genius, but simply the right person in the right place at the right time. This statement is the opposite of Jonathan Bate’s conclusion in The Genius of Shakespeare. Taylor describes how historical events in the four centuries after Shakespeare’s death worked to his benefit, boosting and maintaining Shakespeare’s reputation as the reigning and rightful king of English Literature. In other words, successive cultures have ‘reinvented Shakespeare’ to fit their political or cultural purposes. In this way, Shakespeare’s place has been cemented in our canon, whether he has deserved it or not.
Taylor’s writing is clear and often clever; he likes wordplay (as any good Shakespearian should). He covers a broad span of time and an amazing breadth of subjects with ease and speed. His writing is not entirely chronological; he tends to loop back over the same time period with each new subject he introduces, which can be confusing.
Taylor spends many pages discussing the early editors of Shakespeare’s works. He comments on the way each editor treated his predecessors; notable because he, too, is an editor of those works. This section is so detailed and extensive that the reader could make the assumption that Reinventing Shakespeare was conceived when Taylor was researching these early editors in preparation for his own editorial work.
Taylor’s notes on and references to primary sources are extensive. He does not document many secondary sources, an omission which he freely admits (412). The result is that the text flows more smoothly, but the reader may be at a loss to discover references for statements like the following:
“Everybody agrees that, after a slow but steady upward climb, Shakespeare’s coronation as the King of English Poets finally occurred in the middle of the eighteenth century, at some time between the death of Alexander Pope (1744) and the birth of William Wordsworth (1770)… If you insist on naming a particular year, 1760 will do as well as any… It would not be entirely perverse to suggest that in 1760 William Shakespeare and George I simultaneously ascended the English throne” (114-115).
Taylor’s assumption that Shakespeare has been reinvented by each successive movement or culture is entirely compelling. His Shakespeare is omnipresent and malleable, almost mercurial, throughout politics, law, religion, literary movements and theatre during the eras he describes. However, I am not convinced by Taylor’s conclusion: that because Shakespeare has been resilient enough to be reinvented, repackaged, repurposed; therefore he was not a singular genius. My disbelief, however, is based on the first four chapters; Taylor may present his argument more strongly in the last half of the book.
Taylor’s book works as a cultural history of Shakespeare, and would be cohesive and interesting without his denial of Shakespeare’s genius. Reinventing Shakespeare was completed in 1989, when it was fashionable to criticize a canon written almost entirely by “dead white men”. It is possible that Taylor felt that yet another history lifting Shakespeare up would be ignored in a literary climate that was seeking more diversity.
Was Shakespeare a genius, as Bate says? Yes. Was he the right person, in the right place, at the right time? Yes. Bate and Taylor both present compelling arguments, I am inclined to accept both arguments as a model of what Bate calls ambiguity, or “the simultaneous validity of contradictory readings” (302).
Bate, Jonathan. The Genius of Shakespeare. 1998. New York: Oxford UP, 2008.
Gary Taylor, partnering with Stanley Wells, was joint general editor of Oxford’s 1986 and 2005 editions of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare in both old and revised spelling. He has published and edited several books and articles on Shakespeare, and has recently edited The Complete Works of Thomas Middleton. He is now the Director of the interdisciplinary History of Text Technologies program at Florida State University. Taylor’s book Reinventing Shakespeare was originally published in 1990.
The thesis of Taylor’s book Reinventing Shakespeare is that William Shakespeare was perhaps not a genius, but simply the right person in the right place at the right time. This statement is the opposite of Jonathan Bate’s conclusion in The Genius of Shakespeare. Taylor describes how historical events in the four centuries after Shakespeare’s death worked to his benefit, boosting and maintaining Shakespeare’s reputation as the reigning and rightful king of English Literature. In other words, successive cultures have ‘reinvented Shakespeare’ to fit their political or cultural purposes. In this way, Shakespeare’s place has been cemented in our canon, whether he has deserved it or not.
Taylor’s writing is clear and often clever; he likes wordplay (as any good Shakespearian should). He covers a broad span of time and an amazing breadth of subjects with ease and speed. His writing is not entirely chronological; he tends to loop back over the same time period with each new subject he introduces, which can be confusing.
Taylor spends many pages discussing the early editors of Shakespeare’s works. He comments on the way each editor treated his predecessors; notable because he, too, is an editor of those works. This section is so detailed and extensive that the reader could make the assumption that Reinventing Shakespeare was conceived when Taylor was researching these early editors in preparation for his own editorial work.
Taylor’s notes on and references to primary sources are extensive. He does not document many secondary sources, an omission which he freely admits (412). The result is that the text flows more smoothly, but the reader may be at a loss to discover references for statements like the following:
“Everybody agrees that, after a slow but steady upward climb, Shakespeare’s coronation as the King of English Poets finally occurred in the middle of the eighteenth century, at some time between the death of Alexander Pope (1744) and the birth of William Wordsworth (1770)… If you insist on naming a particular year, 1760 will do as well as any… It would not be entirely perverse to suggest that in 1760 William Shakespeare and George I simultaneously ascended the English throne” (114-115).
Taylor’s assumption that Shakespeare has been reinvented by each successive movement or culture is entirely compelling. His Shakespeare is omnipresent and malleable, almost mercurial, throughout politics, law, religion, literary movements and theatre during the eras he describes. However, I am not convinced by Taylor’s conclusion: that because Shakespeare has been resilient enough to be reinvented, repackaged, repurposed; therefore he was not a singular genius. My disbelief, however, is based on the first four chapters; Taylor may present his argument more strongly in the last half of the book.
Taylor’s book works as a cultural history of Shakespeare, and would be cohesive and interesting without his denial of Shakespeare’s genius. Reinventing Shakespeare was completed in 1989, when it was fashionable to criticize a canon written almost entirely by “dead white men”. It is possible that Taylor felt that yet another history lifting Shakespeare up would be ignored in a literary climate that was seeking more diversity.
Was Shakespeare a genius, as Bate says? Yes. Was he the right person, in the right place, at the right time? Yes. Bate and Taylor both present compelling arguments, I am inclined to accept both arguments as a model of what Bate calls ambiguity, or “the simultaneous validity of contradictory readings” (302).
July 9, 2020
fairly definitive. comprehensive coverage of the reception history & bricoleuresque re-deployments of the Shakespearean text. starts during the Restoration, so the reception history and redeployments prior thereto are really only captured in the Shakespeare Allusion Book.
March 24, 2011
This book is about Shakespeare's journey to becoming the unassailable genius of English literature, how his reputation rose and fell with different societies, how different eras viewed him and his works, how his words have been twisted and adapted to suit different aims, and how the treatment of him and his works illuminates the attitudes of each age we've passed through. It was very interesting and quite well-written, but a little dull in places, perhaps a little too much information on occasion? Worth reading, but with a caveat.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews