Shakespeare in the Restoration

This article considers the role and status of Shakespeare in the period from 1660 to 1700, a liminal period when the adaptations of his plays had many cultural functions to perform, not only in providing a ready-made repertoire when the theatres re-opened, but also, in their adapted forms, articulating the political concerns of these troubled years. Because Shakespeare, though increasingly venerated by critics, was not regarded as sacrosanct as he was to become from the mid-eighteenth century, it was possible to rewrite his plays in radical ways that responded to the new mood of the times as well as to new aesthetic standards. Some of the plays of the Beaumont and Fletcher canon, more popular than Shakespeare's for much of the period, were also adapted, but to a lesser extent, and in much less radical ways, suggesting that the extraordinary cultural flexibility of Shakespeare's plays had already been perceived. Towards the end of the century the concern to distinguish his own text from that of adapters began to appear, leading to the production of many editions of his complete works in the eighteenth century. This marks another stage in the construction of Shakespeare's identity as author and national icon.