Shakespeare in the Trenches

Summary

In April 1916 the tercentenary of Shakespeare's death was celebrated both in England and Germany, although the two countries had been at war for almost two years. This may just sound like an intriguing story, but it is also of considerable critical interest, because it illustrates how Shakespeare's international reputation survived under pressure, how conflicting views of him were defined by the political situation, and how these views, in turn, shaped the meaning of Shakespeare's texts, and affected the history of literary studies after the war.

In other words, in tracing these developments here Shakespeare will be considered as a public symbol, as myth. But this will be done in a comparative perspective, which may help to remove the national limitations characteristic of most studies in this area.

In England a committee, with the Prime Minister as its honorary president, had prepared elaborate ceremonies. They could not really include 23 April, the day of Shakespeare's birth and death (and, significantly for many, St George's Day), because, in 1916, it coincided with Easter Sunday. Officially suggesting a parallel between Christ and Shakespeare would have meant taking things too far. Therefore the celebrations concentrated on the first week of May. On four days great institutions did homage to Shakespeare, on Sunday the Church, on Monday politics, on Tuesday the arts, on Wednesday education.