Mon 3/29 @ 6PM
Shakespeare can seem fusty and old-fashioned to many people, with his high-flown language obsolete terms and characters whose issues seem far-removed from those we face today. Oxford University Professor of Shakespeare Studies Emma Smith aims to air out that apparent fustiness and reveal a writer with plenty of connections to contemporary life in her book This Is Shakespeare.
She exposes the relationships he had with his competitors and with the political climate and religious customs of his time. She looks at some of his best-known works in light of the questions they raise and the ambiguities they leave the reader/viewer with. “Smith writes in strikingly modern ways about individual agency, privacy, politics, celebrity, and sex,” we’re told. The book isn’t intended just for scholars, but for general readers who aren’t interested in being bogged down in academic minutiae.
The Hudson Library and Historical Society is hosting a live streaming event with Smith. It’s free but you must register. Go here to do so and receive the Zoom link. Copies of This Is Shakespeare can be purchased through Hudson’s Learned Owl Book Shop.