Rewriting Shakespeare, Rewriting Ourselves

Participants in the current debate about the literary canon generally separate the established literary order—of which Shakespeare is the most visible icon—from the emergent minority literatures. In this challenging study, Peter Erickson insists on bringing the two realms together. He asks: what impact does a revision of the literary canon have on Shakespeare's status?

Part One of his book is about Shakespeare on women. In analyses of several Shakespearean works, Erickson discusses Shakespea...