The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Race

 

The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Race

Edited by Ayanna Thompson

 

Even without the cover with Adrian Lester, one of the best Shakespearean actors today, I would have bought this book, which I did at the Globe shop in London in October 2023. It’s a subject that interests me very much and I was looking forward to some deep analyses of the plays.

Unfortunately, there is little of that. Most of the essays are about the presence of black Africans in Shakespeare’s England, the first black actors to do this and that, and modern interpretations. Interesting, of course, but not as enlightening as I had hoped.

The two best essays in the book are: 1) Noémie Ndiyae’s text ‘Shakespeare, Race, And Globalization’ in which she uses Timon of Athens to analyse the growth of capitalism and its role in increasing racism from the 16^th century to the present, and 2) Adrian’s Lester’s thoughts on playing Othello as a black general in a modern army. I would so loved to have seen that.

Despite its lackings, it’s an important book. I recommend it.