Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Epigraph
- Prologue
- Introduction
- PART ONE THE PARADOX
- PART TWO THE APPROPRIATION
- 3 Beginning the appropriation of Shakespeare and the ‘First American Edition’ of his works
- 4 Jacksonian energy – Shakespearean imagery
- 5 Context for appropriation in nineteenth-century America
- 6 The American heroic and ownership of Shakespeare
- 7 Shakespeare as a fulcrum for American literature
- 8 The American Scholar and the authorship controversy
- 9 Last scenes in the final act of appropriation
- Epilogue
- Appendix 1
- Appendix 2
- Bibliography
- Index
9 - Last scenes in the final act of appropriation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Epigraph
- Prologue
- Introduction
- PART ONE THE PARADOX
- PART TWO THE APPROPRIATION
- 3 Beginning the appropriation of Shakespeare and the ‘First American Edition’ of his works
- 4 Jacksonian energy – Shakespearean imagery
- 5 Context for appropriation in nineteenth-century America
- 6 The American heroic and ownership of Shakespeare
- 7 Shakespeare as a fulcrum for American literature
- 8 The American Scholar and the authorship controversy
- 9 Last scenes in the final act of appropriation
- Epilogue
- Appendix 1
- Appendix 2
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Blazon'd with Shakspere's purple page
Walt WhitmanAs Shakespeare became part of the cultural language of America, a lingua franca, there began a series of actions that ultimately led to a national shrine to Shakespeare being established in the USA. Americans began to express their interest in and celebration of Shakespeare in a manner that went beyond the printed page or theatre stage. However, few citizens were aware that nationalism, commercial opportunity and Shakespeare had been combined in a manner that reflected American enterprise culture.
IN STRATFORD-UPON-AVON
In 1875, a letter published in the New York Times revealed that some Americans had been working to provide their nation with a greater share of the Shakespeare heritage. Writing in support of a campaign to encourage American financial involvement in the building of a theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in England, Mark Twain demonstrated his admiration for his countrymen and his continued ambivalence towards England and Shakespeare. The letter informed readers that a committee had already been established in the rural Warwickshire town with the specific purpose of raising the necessary funds to build a memorial theatre. Twain had been asked by a friend to organise a collection of subscriptions from American citizens who, in return for their donation of one hundred pounds, would each become a ‘governor’ of the completed theatre.
Twain, the consummate storyteller, managed to convert this simple appeal for donations into a piece of ‘entertainment’ and an opportunity to celebrate American character, enterprise and vision.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Shakespeare and the American Nation , pp. 181 - 200Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004