Shakespeare and the American Nation

The story of how and why Shakespeare became a hero of American popular culture.

Acknowledgements; Prologue; Introduction; Part I. The Paradox: 1. Manifest consumption of Shakespeare; 2. America: a proudly anti-English 'idea'; Part II. The Appropriation: 3. Beginning the appropriation of Shakespeare and the 'First American Edition' of his works; 4. Jacksonian energy - Shakespearean imagery; 5. Context for appropriation in nineteenth-century America; 6. The American heroic and ownership of Shakespeare; 7. Shakespeare as a fulcrum for American literature; 8. The American Scholar and the authorship controversy; 9. Last scenes in the final act of appropriation; Epilogue; Appendix I; Appendix II; Bibliography; Index.