ABSTRACT
A recent Time magazine article quotes a well-known literary critic: “Shakespeare's work has ceased to be a literary consideration. It has become part of our culture, almost part of our ideology and religion” (Friedrich, 1985, 76). Such an assertion no longer sounds as controversial as it might have just a few years ago. It certainly will not seem out of place in the context of the present collection of essays. But the identity of the critic who made the statement may come as something of a surprise: it is Harvard Professor Emeritus Harry Levin. For a scholar of Professor Levin's generation to tie Shakespeare to ideology in such unmitigated terms is an indication of the degree to which the language of literary criticism in America has changed over the past few years. Presumably, words like “ideology” and “power” are now quite acceptable signifiers in authorized institutional discourse concerning Shakespeare and English literature generally.
