ABSTRACT
In a “nation wrestling with great issues, William Shakespeare’s works allowed Americans to express views that may otherwise have been hard to articulate”. A lack of access to the basic tools considered necessary for studying Shakespeare, however, is an equally pressing issue. After broadly examining the relationship between privilege and academic success for American college students, this chapter considers the strengths marginalized students bring to analysis of Shakespeare, with particular attention to the role African American students’ acute understanding of power dynamics and social hierarchies can play in their analysis of his work. By actively centering students’ perspectives and adapting the course’s approach in response, however, instructors can appropriate the Shakespearean text to provide marginalized students with an opportunity to both deepen their understanding of his work and to speak and think critically about the forces that shape their lives.
