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.
| ISBN: | 9780199249923 |
| Publication date: | 30th September 2004 |
| Author: | Gabriel Senior Lecturer in English, Senior Lecturer in English, Loughborough University Egan |
| Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 178 pages |
| Series: | Oxford Shakespeare Topics |
| Genres: |
Literary studies: plays and playwrights Literary studies: c 1600 to c 1800 Far-left political ideologies and movements Social and political philosophy |