
Garber says that her objective in focusing her attention on 10 specific plays through critical essays that expound on certain universal themes was to explore the interdependent relationship between Shakespeare and popular culture, especially by tracing the playwright’s influence on society as it develops through the ages. It does cultural work in the world.” Garber’s newest work, “Shakespeare and Modern Culture”-which is also the name of a course she is currently teaching-is certainly in line with the rest of her oeuvre. “Literature is not just a second-order phenomenon. “I want to emphasize the way literature can have an effect upon history and culture,” she writes in an e-mail to The Crimson. For instance, in “Coming of Age in Shakespeare,” she broached issues regarding identity and sexuality as seen in Shakespeare’s plays and related them to modern cultural trends. Garber’s scholarly project is to emphasize that literature is not a static entity, but rather a dynamic force that can effect change.

Indeed, even after having written five books on William Shakespeare-most notably one that extensively chronicled all 38 of his plays-Garber, who is a professor of English and Visual and Environmental Studies, has yet to exhaust the continuing relevance of Shakespeare’s works in contemporary society. For Marjorie Garber, a 392-year-old English playwright is of real importance to today’s world.
