Shakespearean Charity and the Perils of Redemptive Performance

Elements in Shakespeare Performance

by Todd Landon Barnes

This Element examines recent documentaries depicting marginalized youth who are ostensibly redeemed by their encounters with Shakespeare. These films emerge in response to four historical and discursive the rise of reality television and its emphasis on the emotional transformation of the private individual; the concomitant rise of neoliberalism and emotional capitalism, which employ therapeutic discourses to individualize social inequality; the privatization of public education and the rise of so-called “no-excuses” or “new paternalist” charter schools; and the emergence of new modes of address infusing evangelical conversion narratives with a therapeutic self-help ethos.

Kindle Edition

Published April 1, 2020

Reviews

[Bobby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Barnes does an excellent job of considering the intersections of Shakespeare, education, and neoliberalism, as well as those who pass through them.