Shakespeare’s role in America in the next 250 years

For the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Folger Director Dr. Farah Karim-Cooper asked Shakespeare scholars in America what part they think Shakespeare might play over the next three centuries. Their answers will appear here on Shakespeare & Beyond this summer and fall. To kick off the series, Dr. Karim-Cooper writes about the essential role she sees for Shakespeare—and the Folger—in helping people develop the critical thinking skills needed for democracy to thrive.

WHEN WE THINK OF SHAKESPEARE’S PRESENCE IN AMERICAN HISTORY, most people talk about his role as a wise companion to past presidents. We know what he meant to John Adams, for example. His recitation of lines from Coriolanus as an undergraduate at Harvard perhaps gave Adams the confidence he would need to speak publicly and passionately during the formation of America. Thomas Jefferson wrote to his brother-in-law that Shakespeare could say more about filial duty in King Lear than the Bible ever could. Abraham Lincoln was known to have loved Shakespeare; chillingly, Macbeth—the play about the assassination of a nation’s leader—was reportedly his favorite.

Since then, Shakespeare has shown up in presidential speeches and his plays staged in front of them and in honor of them. Herbert Hoover attended the grand opening of the Folger Shakespeare Library in 1932, and I recall the momentous day that President Obama pitched up to the Globe Theatre in London in 2016 (while I was there as Director of Research) to meet the company of players who had just taken Hamlet into 150 countries. We haven’t seen a lot of Shakespeare coming from, or through, the White House in recent years. Make of that what you will. But Shakespeare and what we do with him is more essential than ever if democracy is to thrive in the next 250 years.

I grant you, this is a bold statement from the Director of the Folger Shakespeare Library. I am not suggesting Shakespeare alone is going to save democracy. No one canonical writer has such power, nor is Shakespeare any kind of savior. But the act of close reading complex texts, of immersion in the craft of writing and performing, the attention required when experiencing live theater, the collective endeavor of putting on a play, the curiosity and inquisitiveness sparked by a poem or a play encompass and enhance the ingredients necessary for an active citizenry. What Gen Z are calling ‘friction-maxxing’ (intentionally building minor discomforts into daily life and avoiding the ease of technology to help build resilience and tolerance for discomfort) is exactly what an encounter with Shakespeare’s texts invites.

Democracy is not a destination, it’s an orientation. For it to be an effective instrument of government, it must be played and practiced diligently, and with skill, attention, and fortitude. The plays Shakespeare wrote articulate this necessity in a variety of ways. For example, in King Lear there’s clear illustration of what happens when wisdom gives way to folly, and when flatterers obscure the truth. In Othello, Shakespeare shows us the inner workings of Iago’s malevolent manipulation of the truth.

It is crucial, therefore, that the Folger Shakespeare Library, among many other institutions, continues to sustain, and to enhance, the infrastructure which enables the enjoyment, the study, and the performance of Shakespeare’s works. The role that Shakespeare might play in the next 250 years depends on the power our society affords the arts and humanities. The misconception that these are elite disciplines in higher education, or merely islands of comfort for us to absorb the hardships in life, is largely why they are in jeopardy. We haven’t invested in them because we have refused to acknowledge their profound usefulness to society when it comes to large-scale problem solving. If we invest in civic institutions and practitioners—such as libraries, theatres, universities, museums, galleries, schools, community centers, young people, teachers, artists, performers—then Shakespeare and his works continue to walk alongside us. How his works and the practice of engaging with them can help us develop as critical thinkers who interpret information with nuance and intelligence cannot be overstated. Most of all, his poems and plays are joyful and inspire immense human creativity. What else is there when all that is gone?

To observe the occasion of the 250^th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, I have asked Shakespeare scholars in America to comment on what they think Shakespeare’s role might be in the next 250 years. What I am finding in their moving and engaging responses—which we’ll be sharing here on Shakespeare & Beyond— is an overwhelming sense of hope and a conviction that Shakespeare’s staying power rests on how we use him now.

About the author

Dr. Farah Karim-Cooper is the eighth director of the Folger Shakespeare Library.
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