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thoseequippedwithwings,lightandmobile,couldkeepmovingtomore
congenialclimes.Suchasurvivalinstinctstillguidestheirannualmigrations.
OneimageofShakespeareisthatofthebirdamongthedinosaurs.Beaumont
andFletchermaybeleftwellbehindandnowlockedinscholars,libraries,
whereasShakespeare,splayscontinuetomigrateandadaptwithanalmost
uncannyself-agency.
Shakespeare,sownastonishingmetamorphosesareasmanifoldasthe
appropriationsofhisplays.Asapersonlivinginhisowntimeshewas
aprofessionaldramatist,actorandtheatreshareholder,apparentlywithoutthe
publicegotismofMarloweorJonsonbutwellliked,successfulandeven,as
timewenton,a‘‘brandname,,thatwouldsellscriptsandattractanaudience.
DownthroughthecenturiesinEnglandhehasturnedintonationalpoet,
imperialisticon,intellectualpolymath,conservativeorfreedomfighter,abogy
toanti-imperialists,anti-populistsymbolofelitismandsnobbery.Injustone
decade,the1980s,hewasfirsttrustedasawriterwhorepresentedauthentic
femaleexperienceShakespearethenknew‘theNatureofWomen,ifJuliet
Dusinberre,stitlecanbetrusted,2‘‘TheNatureofWomanhood,,accordingto
LindaWoodbridge.3Thenhewasreviledasmisogynist,andhomophobic
upholderofthenormativenessofheterosexualroles.Brieflyhebecamean
overthomosexualandeven‘thenoblestfeministofthemall,.Biographershave
recreatedhimastorturedromantic,businessman,andanobese,andunpleasant
time-server.4Hisworkshavebeenappropriatedbyproto-fascistsanddedicated
socialistsalike,tojustifytheirpointsofview.Oncetheprovinceofromantic
poetsandwarleaders,hisplayshavebecomesource-booksforcorporate
businessmanagers5andadvertisingagenciesAllalong,theyhavebeen
transmutedintovirtuallyeveryotherartisticform:painting,song,opera,poems,
plays,novels,andfilms.
NorisitjustAngloSaxonswhohaveshownsuchenthusiasmforap-
propriatingShakespeare.Hisworkshavebeenmediatedbyvariousnational
poetstoturnhimintoacentralfigureinnon-Englishcultures.6Trans-
latedbyPasternakhebecameRussia,snationalpoet,byGoethehebecame
2J.Dusinberre,Shakespeareandthenatureofwomen,NewYork1996,St.Martin,s
Press.
3L.Woodbridge,WomenandtheEnglishRenaissance:literatureandthenatureof
womankind,1540–1620,Brighton1984,HarvesterPress.
4SeeS.Schoenbaum,Shakespeare’sLives,Oxford1991;G.Taylor,Reinventing
Shakespeare:ACulturalHistoryfromtheRestorationtothePresent,London1989,andmost
recently(andprovocatively),K.Duncan-Jones,UngentleShakespeare:ScenesfromhisLife,
London2001.
5J.WhitneyandT.Packer,PowerPlays:Shakespeare’sLessonsinLeadershipand
Management,NewYork2000.
6Seegenerally,ForeignShakespeare:ContemporaryPerformance,ed.D.Kennedy,Cam-
bridge1993,andShakespeareandNationalCulture,ed.J.J.Joughin,Manchester1997.