Shakespeare and Modern Popular Culture

by Douglas Lanier

Our notions of Shakespeare have been shaped partly by his diffuse presence in films, comics, television, popular novels, kitsch, and advertising. Through a series of case studies, Douglas Lanier examines how modern popular culture has appropriated and refashioned Shakespeare as a cultural icon.

Genres: Shakespeare, Literary Criticism

198 pages, Paperback

First published September 5, 2002

Reviews

[Candy Wood]

This is a 2002 version of a kind of book that can profitably be written every few years, as new examples of Shakespeare appropriations in modern popular culture are constantly appearing. The compact format of the Oxford Shakespeare Topics series makes this one very approachable, and Lanier appropriately incorporates theory without indulging in mystifying jargon. Examples range from Star Trek films and television through many films, novels, and stage and television productions that appropriate Shakespeare in a variety of ways, prompting readers to think about what cultural forces are operating in each case. The presence of myth is strong throughout, whether the subject is biography, authorship, or performance practices. Discussions of Neil Gaiman’s versions of Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest and of the film Shakespeare in Love make me regret that space prohibited more than a sentence or two for most of the novels mentioned. The concluding discussion of the reconstructed Globe also encourages other approaches.

[Keaton]

read chapters 1–4

[Sae Kitamura · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wide-ranging but handy book on Shakespeare's reception in modern popular culture, but containing some minor errors about Japanese mangas.