Spectacular Shakespeare includes an introduction, nine essays, and an afterword that all address the spectacle of Shakespeare in recent Hollywood films. The essays approach the Shakespeare-as-star phenomenon from various perspectives, some applauding the popularization of the Bard, others critically questioning the appropriation of Shakespeare in contemporary mass culture.

First published in 2003. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The Merchant of Venice has always been regarded as one of Shakespeare's most interesting plays. Before the nineteenth century critical reaction is relatively fragmentary. However between then and the late twentieth century the critical tradition reveals the tremendous vitality of the play to evoke emotion in the theatre and in the study. Since the middle of the twentieth century reactions to the drama have been influenced by the Nazi destruction of European Jewry. The first volume to document the full tradition of criticism of The Merchant of Venice includes an extensive introduction which charts the reactions to the play up to the beginning of the twenty first century and reflects changing reactions to prejudice in this period. Material by a variety of critics appears here for the first time since initial publication. Reactions are included from: Malone, Hazlitt, Jameson, Heine, Knight, Lewes, Halliwell-Phillips, Furnivall, Irving, Ruskin, Swinburne, Masefield, Gollancz and Quiller-Couch.