Shakespeare's Fascist Followers - Modern Friends

'' Richard Wilson''s meticulously researched, powerfully argued and brilliantly written account of Shakespeare''s 20th-century fascist followers is not just an important but a genuinely essential book.'' Robert Shaughnessy, Guildford School of Acting, UK In this illuminating book, Richard Wilson demonstrates how in the 20th century Shakespeare and his plays were subjected to a misreading which served the purposes of proto-, present and future fascism. It exposes how Shakespeare was misappropriated by the far right to represent Britain''s supposedly glorious history, and the ways in which they utilized him and the cultural capital of his work. His extensive and rigorous research also gestures beyond Britain, taking in case studies from North America, Germany and France.Some of the names this book unearths will surprise: many of the right-wing political views or leanings of the prominent figures discussed have been left unexplored or ignored. This book provides in-depth case studies of a wide variety of figures, from A. K. Chesterton, who was both editor of the British Union of Fascists'' newspaper Blackshirt and former manager of press and publicity at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, to celebrated Shakespeareans such as G. Wilson Knight, through to writers, artists and theatre practitioners including W. B. Yeats, T. S. Eliot, Edward Gordon Craig and Philip Larkin, among others. At a time when democracy is under threat, populism is on the rise and far right views are increasingly prominent in our political landscape, Richard Wilson''s book makes an especially vital contribution to Shakespeare scholarship.>

About the author

Richard Wilson is the Sir Peter Hall Professor of Shakespeare Studies at Kingston University, UK.
Roger Holdsworth is a member of Linacre College, University of Oxford, UK.
Robert Stagg is Assistant Professor of English and Director of the New Variorum Shakespeare at Texas A&M University, USA.
David Thacker is Professor of Theatre at the University of Bolton, UK.

Product details

• Authors: Richard Wilson
• Assisted by: Roger Holdsworth (Editor), Holdsworth Roger (Editor), Robert Stagg (Editor), David Thacker (Editor)
• Publisher: Arden shakespeare
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 07.08.2025
• EAN: 9781350433854
• ISBN: 978-1-350-43385-4
• No. of pages: 352
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > English linguistics / literary studies; European History, HISTORY / Europe / General, HISTORY / Social History, Social & cultural history, LITERARY CRITICISM / Shakespeare, PERFORMING ARTS / Theater / History & Criticism, 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999, Theatre Studies, Fascism & Nazism, Social and cultural history, Far-right political ideologies and movements, Shakespeare Studies & Criticism, Literary studies: plays and playwrights, Relating to Shakespeare / Shakespearean