Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the relationships between Shakespeare and Italian literary, dramatic, and intellectual culture by asking a series of questions centred on the keywords "transnational" and "exchange". It addresses instead the ways in which Italian forms, ideals, and aesthetic qualities are imitated, recast, and made new in Shakespeare's handling. The book also examines what might be called Shakespeare's "dialectic with Italy or, rather, Italies, since the English view of Italy is a pliable construct", and the ways in which English cultural identity is crafted in response to Italian literature and art. It addresses the constraints and opportunities afforded by adaptation to new settings or new media; considers how selections from Shakespeare are turned into something personal and original; and analyses the strategies of contaminatio by which a given Shakespearean play is melded with other Shakespearean plays or independent Italian traditions.