Shakespeare in Adaptation

This volume on Political and Aesthetic Expressions in Contemporary Adaptations and Transformations of Shakespeare examines the dialectical relationship between text and discursive context. Using adaptations of Shakespeare, my intention is to accomplish insight into the ways in which cultural, social and political influences have shaped production of the plays on page and in performance. Contrary to the old view held by traditional modes of Shakespearean criticism, this book highlights limitations of imagining a fixed and immutable canon of Shakespeare's plays. By attributing a historical role to his plays, Shakespeare is shown as instrumental in up-holding and euphemizing monarchical values of cultural power and racial superiority in the political context of 16th century Elizabethan and Jacobean England. Being the playwright and poet of his time most quoted for reflecting the spirit of the age and the culture of the time, Shakespeare is used in this book to show how constructions of subjectivity are central to the literature, theatre and history of Western culture in general.