Ep 22: The Shakespeare Jubilee and Our Changing Perceptions

In 1769, a famous actor decided to host a giant event in honor of the man who helped make him famous: Shakespeare.

It did not go as planned.

While the Shakespeare Jubilee ended up being kind of a disaster, its aim to uphold the genius of Shakespeare ended up panning out pretty well. After all, a few hundred years later, we are all singing the praises of this immortal poet.

In this episode, we talk about people’s attitudes toward Shakespeare and his plays, why they were performed so consistently across time, and how several French writers once derided Shakespeare’s works as the writing of an amateur.

How much can one event influence the national perception of a writer? While it’s not entirely unclear, the events of the one and only Shakespeare Jubilee did have some effect on the growing scholarship and seriousness with which people viewed Shakespeare’s works.

Further Reading

What Blest Genius? The Jubilee that Made Shakespeare by Andrew McConnell Stott

Credit where credit is due

Podcast art by ⁠Halie Branson⁠

Music recording by ⁠josdvg⁠