Shakespeare and realism: on the politics of style

This collection of essays examines the works of the most famous writer of plays in the English language within the most culturally pervasive genre in which they are performed.

Though Realist productions of Shakespeare are central to the ways in which his work is produced and consumed in the 21st century - and has been for the last 100 years - scholars are divided on the socio-political, historical, and ethical effects of this marriage of content and style.

The book is divided into two sections, the first of which focuses on how Realist performance style influences our understanding of Shakespeare's characters.

These chapters engage in close readings of multiple performances, interrogating the ways in which actors' specific characterizations contribute to extremely varied interpretations of a single character.