This is talk with James Shapiro of Columbia University on his recent book, ‘Shakespeare in a Divided America’. This conversation covers highlights of Shapiro’s book on the influence of Shakespeare in American thought and on the minds of such American leaders as John Quincy Adams, Ulysses S. Grant, Abraham Lincoln, and Henry Cabot Lodge. The book also examines how Shakespeare appears in American history and how Shakespearean material weighs in on such matters as race, immigration, and gender. From the Astor Place riots in the 19th century to the hullabaloo over the portrayal of a Trump look alike at the Delacorte theatre, this book also shows how Shakespearean performance exposes a range of divisive conflicts in the American consciousness. This talk also cover Shapiro’s prior work on Shakespeare’s life, antisemitism in Shakespeare, and the question of Shakespearean authorship.
00:00:00 - Intro
00:02:47 - Overview of ‘Shakespeare in a Divided America’
00:06:57 - John Quincy Adams, Ulysses S. Grant, and ‘Othello’
00:11:08 - Why Shakespeare in America?
00:13:56 - Astor Place Riots, Shakespeare competition, unruly behavior
00:21:30 - Shakespeare in prison
00:26:39 - Henry Cabot Lodge, ‘The Tempest’, and immigration
00:32:47 - Kiss Me Kate, post war American and marriage
00:34:59 - LGBTQ and ‘Shakespeare in Love’
00:38:39 - Joel Coen’s ‘Macbeth’, using film in pedagogy
00:40:23 - Trump as Caesar at the Delacorte
00:43:33 - James Shapiro’s history as a Shakespearean, theatre goer
00:46:22 - The transformation experience of theatre going
00:48:30 - The Shakespearean authorship question and the Supreme Court
00:54:58 - Following one’s own path in Shakespeare studies
00:56:58 - Future research, African-American Shylock, multicultural Shakespeare
01:01:25 - Theatre in Ireland
01:04:49 - Closing remarks
