When Kenan professor of English and American literature and language Marjorie Garber taught Shakespeare to Harvard graduates at an "Alumni College" several years ago, the course was so popular that it had to be repeated. Garber, says Stephen Greenblatt, is one of a group of Harvard scholars—including Helen Vendler, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Elaine Scarry, and Louis Menand [not to mention Greenblatt himself]—who are "trying to repair the gap between the world of things that are read in classrooms and assigned in universities and things that are read by people who just love life and literature and who don't read only because they are assigned it." Readers, theatergoers, and even students who want the "pentimento, the underpainting" of what they should know about Shakespeare either in performance or in print will appreciate Garber's lucid companion to the plays, Shakespeare after All (forthcoming from Pantheon this December). It is, as she says, "an old-fashioned kind of book about Shakespeare." But only in its form. Drawing on the Harvard lecture course she taught from 1981 to 2003, Garber brings contemporary trends in criticism and theory, including new historical, philosophical, and cultural work, to a close reading of the plays that is a fine complement to Greenblatt's biographical genealogy of the playwright's works.
Shakespeare after All
You might also like
A New Chapter for Harvard Arts
The Office for the Arts turns 50, and its longtime director steps down.
Education School Announces Interim Dean
Nonie Lesaux will serve as dean during search
Harvard Students form Pro-Palestine Encampment
Protesters set up camp in Harvard Yard
Most popular
More to explore
What is the Best Breakfast and Lunch in Harvard Square?
The cafés and restaurants of Harvard Square sure to impress for breakfast and lunch.
How Homelessness is a Public Health Crisis
Homelessness has surged in the United States, with devastating effects on the public health system.
Portfolio Diet May Reduce Long-Term Risk of Heart Disease and Stroke, Harvard Researchers Find
A little-known diet improves cardiovascular health through several distinct mechanisms.