Existing comment:
The Cold War and After:
World War II has been followed by a period of uncertain peace. In the latter half of the 20th century, the United States was involved in a number of wars including those in Korea and Vietnam, and the cold war with the Soviet Union. Subsequently, the US has sent its military to Iraq and Afghanistan. During many of these conflicts, Shakespeare has been used to support our troops, and also as a means of carrying on different sides of a difficult conversation.
Herblock Block, one of the most prolific political cartoonists of the 20th century, used Shakespeare to comment on the atom bomb and on disagreements surrounding the Vietnam War.
John Guare's musical version of Two Gentlemen of Verona sent a strong anti-Vietnam-war message through its lyrics: "Bring 'em home. Bring 'em home. Bring all the boys back home."
American soldiers carried editions of Shakespeare's plays into Vietnam and Iraq for diversion from the realities of war. An Armed Services Edition of Henry V was re-issued in 2002 just in time for the Iraq War.
Shakespeare has even been used as a means of bridging a cultural divide. In 2005, Love's Labour's Lost, translated into Dari by Afghan poets with the encouragement of an American playwright, was performed, unusually, by men and women together, to an enthusiastic audience. |