Shakespeare And Marx

by Egan, Gabriel

• ISBN13: 9780199249923
• ISBN10: 019924992X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-12-23
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Marxist cultural theory underlies much teaching and research in university departments of literature and has played a crucial role in the development of recent theoretical work. Feminism, New Historicism, cultural materialism, postcolonial theory, and queer theory all draw upon ideas about cultural production which can be traced to Marx, and significantly each also has a special relation with Renaissance literary studies. This book explores the past and continuing influence of Marx's ideas in work on Shakespeare. Marx's ideas about cultural production and its relation to economic production are clearly explained, together with the standard terminology and concepts such as base/superstructure, ideology, commodity fetishism, alienation, and reification. The influence of Marx's ideas on the theory and practice of Shakespeare criticism and performance is traced from the Victorian age to the present day. The continuing importance of these ideas is illustrated via new Marxist readings of King Lear , hamlet , The Merchant of Venice , Timon of Athens , The Comedy of Errors , All's Well that Ends Well , and The Winter's Tale .

Author Biography

Gabriel Egan is Senior Lecturer in English at Loughborough University.

Table of Contents

A Note on References	viii
A Note on Dates and Pronouns	viii
Introduction	1	(6)
Shakespeare, Marx, Production, and the World of Ideas	7	(39)
Marx's Influence on Shakespeare Studies to 1968	46	(23)
Marx's Influence on Shakespeare Studies since 1968	69	(29)
Shakespeare and Marx Today	98	(40)
Conclusion: Marx and Genetics	138	(12)
Further Reading	150	(3)
Works Cited	153	(10)
Index	163