Shakespeare''s Blank Verse: An Alternative History is a study both of Shakespeare''s versification and of its place in the history of early modern blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter). It ranges from the continental precursors of English blank verse in the early sixteenth century through the drama and poetry of Shakespeare''s contemporaries to the editing of blank verse in the eighteenth century and beyond. Alternative in its argumentation as well as its arguments, Shakespeare''s Blank Verse tries out fresh ways of thinking about meter--by shunning doctrinaire methods of apprehending a writer''s versification, and by reconnecting meter to the fundamental literary, dramatic, historical, and social questions that animate Shakespeare''s drama.

Shakespeare''s Blank Verse: An Alternative History is a study both of Shakespeare''s versification and of its place in the history of early modern blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter). It ranges from the continental precursors of English blank verse in the early sixteenth century through the drama and poetry of Shakespeare''s contemporaries to the editing of blank verse in the eighteenth century and beyond. Alternative in its argumentation as well as its arguments, Shakespeare''s Blank Verse tries out fresh ways of thinking about meter--by shunning doctrinaire methods of apprehending a writer''s versification, and by reconnecting meter to the fundamental literary, dramatic, historical, and social questions that animate Shakespeare''s drama.

Shakespeare's Blank Verse: An Alternative History is a study both of Shakespeare's versification and of its place in the history of early modern blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter). It ranges from the continental precursors of English blank verse in the early sixteenth century through the drama and poetry of Shakespeare's contemporaries to the editing of blank verse in the eighteenth century and beyond. Alternative in its argumentation as well as its arguments, Shakespeare's Blank Verse tries out fresh ways of thinking about meter--by shunning doctrinaire methods of apprehending a writer's versification, and by reconnecting meter to the fundamental literary, dramatic, historical, and social questions that animate Shakespeare's drama.

‘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, UKIn this illuminating book Richard Wilson demonstrates how in the 20th century Shakespeare’s plays and poems were persistently misread as documents which voiced the fascist sympathies of their author. Wilson argues that the version of Shakespeare this caricature produced – authoritarian, jingoistic, racially intolerant, misogynistic – was viewed with satisfaction by many of the leading figures of the century’s cultural establishment in Britain and America, while noting striking cases of the same bias in Germany and France.Some of the names this book focuses on will surprise: many of the right-wing political views or leanings of the prominent figures discussed have been left unexplored or ignored: 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 and writers, artists and theatre practitioners including W. B. Yeats, T. S. Eliot, Edward Gordon Craig and Marshall McLuhan. At a time when democracy is under threat, populism is on the rise and far right views are increasingly prominent in our political discourse, Richard Wilson’s book makes an especially vital contribution to Shakespeare scholarship.

''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, UKIn this illuminating book Richard Wilson demonstrates how in the 20th century Shakespeare''s plays and poems were persistently misread as documents which voiced the fascist sympathies of their author. Wilson argues that the version of Shakespeare this caricature produced – authoritarian, jingoistic, racially intolerant, misogynistic – was viewed with satisfaction by many of the leading figures of the century''s cultural establishment in Britain and America, while noting striking cases of the same bias in Germany and France.Some of the names this book focuses on will surprise: many of the right-wing political views or leanings of the prominent figures discussed have been left unexplored or ignored: 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 and writers, artists and theatre practitioners including W. B. Yeats, T. S. Eliot, Edward Gordon Craig and Marshall McLuhan. At a time when democracy is under threat, populism is on the rise and far right views are increasingly prominent in our political discourse, Richard Wilson''s book makes an especially vital contribution to Shakespeare scholarship.

Shakespeare''s Blank Verse: An Alternative History is a study both of Shakespeare''s versification and of its place in the history of early modern blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter). It ranges from the continental precursors of English blank verse in the early sixteenth century through the drama and poetry of Shakespeare''s contemporaries to the editing of blank verse in the eighteenth century and beyond. Alternative in its argumentation as well as its arguments, Shakespeare''s Blank Verse tries out fresh ways of thinking about meter--by shunning doctrinaire methods of apprehending a writer''s versification, and by reconnecting meter to the fundamental literary, dramatic, historical, and social questions that animate Shakespeare''s drama.

Shakespeare''s Blank Verse: An Alternative History is a study both of Shakespeare''s versification and of its place in the history of early modern blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter). It ranges from the continental precursors of English blank verse in the early sixteenth century through the drama and poetry of Shakespeare''s contemporaries to the editing of blank verse in the eighteenth century and beyond. Alternative in its argumentation as well as its arguments, Shakespeare''s Blank Verse tries out fresh ways of thinking about meter--by shunning doctrinaire methods of apprehending a writer''s versification, and by reconnecting meter to the fundamental literary, dramatic, historical, and social questions that animate Shakespeare''s drama.

Shakespeare's Blank Verse: An Alternative History is a study both of Shakespeare's versification and of its place in the history of early modern blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter). It ranges from the continental precursors of English blank verse in the early sixteenth century through the drama and poetry of Shakespeare's contemporaries to the editing of blank verse in the eighteenth century and beyond. Alternative in its argumentation as well as its arguments, Shakespeare's Blank Verse tries out fresh ways of thinking about meter--by shunning doctrinaire methods of apprehending a writer's versification, and by reconnecting meter to the fundamental literary, dramatic, historical, and social questions that animate Shakespeare's drama.

‘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, UKIn this illuminating book Richard Wilson demonstrates how in the 20th century Shakespeare’s plays and poems were persistently misread as documents which voiced the fascist sympathies of their author. Wilson argues that the version of Shakespeare this caricature produced – authoritarian, jingoistic, racially intolerant, misogynistic – was viewed with satisfaction by many of the leading figures of the century’s cultural establishment in Britain and America, while noting striking cases of the same bias in Germany and France.Some of the names this book focuses on will surprise: many of the right-wing political views or leanings of the prominent figures discussed have been left unexplored or ignored: 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 and writers, artists and theatre practitioners including W. B. Yeats, T. S. Eliot, Edward Gordon Craig and Marshall McLuhan. At a time when democracy is under threat, populism is on the rise and far right views are increasingly prominent in our political discourse, Richard Wilson’s book makes an especially vital contribution to Shakespeare scholarship.

''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, UKIn this illuminating book Richard Wilson demonstrates how in the 20th century Shakespeare''s plays and poems were persistently misread as documents which voiced the fascist sympathies of their author. Wilson argues that the version of Shakespeare this caricature produced – authoritarian, jingoistic, racially intolerant, misogynistic – was viewed with satisfaction by many of the leading figures of the century''s cultural establishment in Britain and America, while noting striking cases of the same bias in Germany and France.Some of the names this book focuses on will surprise: many of the right-wing political views or leanings of the prominent figures discussed have been left unexplored or ignored: 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 and writers, artists and theatre practitioners including W. B. Yeats, T. S. Eliot, Edward Gordon Craig and Marshall McLuhan. At a time when democracy is under threat, populism is on the rise and far right views are increasingly prominent in our political discourse, Richard Wilson''s book makes an especially vital contribution to Shakespeare scholarship.