{"product_id":"shakespeare-and-fun-donald-hedrick-9781350002845","title":"Shakespeare and Fun: The Birth of Entertainment Value","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn this bold, original study Hedrick proposes an early modern 'entertainment value' revolution, to which Shakespeare contributed and in which he played a competitive role.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs London's nascent capitalist industry developed and the variety of entertainments proliferated, theatre contributes to the birth of entertainment value and a commercial trajectory toward what Marxist critic Adorno theorizes as 'fun, ' seen contemporaneously in LasVegasization and the election of Donald Trump to U.S. Presidency. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this innovative approach to Shakespeare's plays through their compulsory, competitive relation to other choices from London's entertainment industry, such as sex work and gaming, Hedrick recovers a coherent internal dynamic of theatre's 'pleasure enclosure' accompanying the revolutionary logic of capital's new cultural and economic extremes. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Applying these relations to original, insightful readings of \u003ci\u003eA Midsummer Night's Dream, The Winter's Tale\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Taming of the Shrew, \u003c\/i\u003e Hedrick draws from cultural studies, contemporary and personal parallels, wide-ranging historical materials, and political theory. These include: the semantic shifts in keywords of pleasure, the practice of betting on actors, the psychology of paying admission \u003ci\u003ebefore \u003c\/i\u003ean entertainment, and various 'reality shows' such as contests of prose and verse. Continual insights emerge, both broad and specific: from ten 'entertainment value axioms' to Shakespeare's awareness of entertainment value's birth at moments in his late plays, marking a logic of value crisis, bubbles, and the danger of 'too much fun.'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Donald Hedrick\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1350002844\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781350002845\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Arden Shakespeare\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/27\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 304\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover","brand":"Donald Hedrick","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":46420258783487,"sku":"9781350002845","price":100.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_2b02e197-e6a8-4ae1-ba96-9aa93d3e568e.jpg?v=1734634105","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/shakespeare-and-fun-donald-hedrick-9781350002845","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}