You Don't Have to Write Your Lear. Or Your Venus and Adonis Even.

Episode • Apr 28, 2020 • 15m

As soon as the theatres shut down, the King Lear memes started. Over and over, people urged us not to bemoan our sudden retreat to our houses because Shakespeare wrote King Lear during the plague. This was meant to encourage us to believe that it might be highly productive to be sent home. Instead, it gave a lot of people anxiety about having to produce a masterpiece while navigating the challenges of social distancing.

I suspect some historical context might be useful and since most Shakespeare scholars are busy trying to figure out how to adapt their courses for Zoom, I thought I might offer some interim thoughts on this topic.

If you'd like to read more of You Don't Have to Write Your Lear. Or Your Venus and Adonis Even. visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.

This is Episode 198

Song: (Sittin on) The Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding

Image via The British Library

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