Canonical texts may not always be above criticism, but critiquing them has its limits and its costs. Although criticizing Shakespeare’s oeuvre is permitted in the academy, one cannot say it is bad English. Some might argue for revisions to the American Constitution on matters such as the right to bear arms, but no American in public life could say that the Constitution is not suited for running a garden club, let alone a nation. Such opinions would be dismissed as absurd if not offensive within the canonical communities whose very identities are formed in part around these texts.
