Shakespeare for Freedom

Shakespeare for Freedom presents a powerful plausible and political argument for Shakespeare''s meaning and value. It ranges across the breadth of the Shakespeare phenomenon offering a new interpretation not just of the characters and plays but also of the part they have played in theatre criticism civic culture and politics. Its story includes a glimpse of ''Freetown'' in Romeo and Juliet which comes to life in the 1769 Stratford Jubilee; the Shakespearean careers of the Leicester Chartist Cooper and the Hungarian hero Kossuth; Hegel''s recognition of Shakespearean freedom as the modern breakthrough; its fatal effects in America; the disgust it inspired in Tolstoy; its rehabilitation by Ted Hughes and its obscure centrality in the 2012 Olympics. Ultimately it issues a positive Shakespearean prognosis for freedom as a vital (in both senses) unending struggle. Shakespeare for Freedom shows why Shakespeare has mattered for four hundred years and why he still matters today.