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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 <em>King Lear, <em>hamlet, <em>The Merchant of Venice, <em>Timon of Athens, <em>The Comedy of Errors, <em>All's Well that Ends Well, and <em>The Winter's Tale.
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Oxford Shakespeare Topics Shakespeare and Marx oxford shakespeare topics Published and Forthcoming Titles Include: Lawrence Danson, Shakespeare’s Dramatic Genres Gabriel Egan, Shakespeare and Marx Andrew Gurr and Mariko Ichikawa, Staging in Shakespeare’s Theatres Peter Holland, Shakespeare and Film Jill L. Levenson, Shakespeare and Twentieth-Century Drama Ania Loomba, Shakespeare and Race Russ McDonald, Shakespeare and the Arts of Language Steven Marx, Shakespeare and the Bible Robert S. Miola, Shakespeare’s Reading Phyllis Rackin, Shakespeare and Women Bruce R. Smith, Shakespeare and Masculinity Zdeneˇk Strˇ´ıbrny´, Shakespeare and Eastern Europe Michael Taylor, Shakespeare Criticism in the Twentieth Century Stanley Wells, ed., Shakespeare in the Theatre: An Anthology of Criticism Stanley Wells and Paul Edmondson, Shakespeare’s Sonnets Martin Wiggins, Shakespeare and the Drama of his Time Oxford Shakespeare Topics general editors: peter holland and stanley wells Shakespeare and Marx GABRIEL EGAN 1 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Sa˜o Paulo Shanghai Taipei Tokyo Toronto Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York # Gabriel Egan 2004 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2004 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Data available ISBN 0-19-924993-8 ISBN 0-19-924992-x(pbk.) 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Typeset by Kolam Information Services Pvt. Ltd, Pondicherry, India Printed in Great