Shakespeare Quarterly

Shakespeare Quarterly is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal devoted to the study of William Shakespeare and the literature, performance, history, and culture surrounding his works. Founded in 1950, the journal publishes scholarship on early modern drama, print culture, theatrical history, and reception across time and space. It addresses topics that intersect with figures, institutions, and events from the Tudor and Stuart courts to modern theatrical movements and global adaptations.

History

Shakespeare Quarterly was established in the postwar period amid renewed scholarly interest linked to institutions such as the Folger Shakespeare Library, the British Museum, the British Library, and universities like Harvard University, Yale University, and Oxford University. Early issues engaged with archival discoveries from repositories including the Bodleian Library, the National Archives (United Kingdom), and the Public Record Office, and responded to historiographical debates involving scholars associated with New Criticism, New Historicism, and comparative work connected to figures like T. S. Eliot, M. H. Abrams, and Harold Bloom. Over decades the journal intersected with major cultural events—discussions following productions at the Globe Theatre (London), the Royal Shakespeare Company, and the Stratford Festival—and scholarly controversies arising from the publication of texts such as the First Folio and the Second Quarto editions. Institutional shifts connected SQ to changes at the Johns Hopkins University Press and partnerships involving the American Council of Learned Societies.

Scope and Content

The journal's remit spans textual scholarship on plays like Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Tempest; studies of poets and playwrights such as Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, John Webster, Thomas Middleton, Philip Massinger, and Thomas Kyd; and work on historical figures including Elizabeth I, James I of England, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, and William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley. Issues often include essays engaging with performance histories tied to practitioners like David Garrick, Edmund Kean, Sir John Gielgud, Sir Laurence Olivier, Dame Judi Dench, and directors associated with the Donmar Warehouse and the Royal Court Theatre. The journal publishes research on material culture exemplified by the Stationers' Register, the London book trade, and printers such as Edward Allde and Richard Hawkins, alongside studies that touch on legal and political documents like the Acts of Union 1707 and diplomatic correspondences involving the Court of James I. It has featured work on adaptation and reception connecting to films such as those by Laurence Olivier and Akira Kurosawa, and on global Shakespeare in contexts including India, Japan, Nigeria, and South Africa.

Editorial Structure and Publication Details

The editorial apparatus has included editors affiliated with research centers such as the Folger Shakespeare Library, Columbia University, University of California, Berkeley, and Princeton University. The journal follows peer-review practices shaped by scholarly norms at organizations like the Modern Language Association and the American Historical Association. Published quarterly, its production involves collaboration between scholarly editors, advisory boards featuring members from institutions including Cambridge University and the University of Edinburgh, and publishers with distribution networks comparable to those of the Johns Hopkins University Press. Special issues have coordinated with conferences held by groups such as the Shakespeare Association of America and international symposiums hosted at venues like the University of Toronto and the University of Sydney.

Notable Contributors and Articles

Contributors have included leading scholars and critics associated with movements and institutions: Harold Bloom, Stephen Greenblatt, Marjorie Garber, Stanley Wells, E. A. J. Honigmann, Gordon McMullan, Katherine Duncan-Jones, Jonathan Bate, Emma Smith, David Kastan, Phyllis Rackin, Ann Thompson, Michael Neill, R. A. Foakes, Alison Findlay, Peter Holland, Sonia Massai, RSC affiliates, and performance critics tied to the New York Times and The Guardian. Influential articles have examined textual variance in the First Folio, staging practices at the Globe Theatre (London), authorship debates involving figures like Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford and Christopher Marlowe, and colonial-era appropriations in settings tied to the British Empire. The journal has published archival revelations from collections like the Victoria and Albert Museum and from personal papers associated with actors such as John Gielgud and directors like Peter Brook.

Reception and Impact

Scholarly reception frames the journal as central to anglophone Shakespeare studies, frequently cited alongside monographs from university presses at Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, and Routledge. Its influence extends into theatre practice at companies including the Royal Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare's Globe, and the National Theatre (United Kingdom), and into classroom syllabi at Harvard University, Yale University, University of California, Los Angeles, and King's College London. Debates sparked by essays in the journal have intersected with public controversies—such as reinterpretations of staging at the Stratford Festival and scholarly debates over authorship and textual editing—that engage media outlets like the BBC and the New York Times. The journal's work has informed exhibitions at the Folger Shakespeare Library and the British Library and has shaped digital projects and databases maintained by institutions like the Folger Shakespeare Library and Early English Books Online.

Category:Academic journals