Abstract
The mission statement of the online creative commerce platform Etsy declares its commitment to “using the power of business to strengthen communities and empower people”. Among the many handmade and vintage items sold on Etsy are 3,811 items quoting Helena’s description of Hermia from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (“and though she be but little, she is fierce”). This journal paper will examine the relationship between Shakespeare and the predominantly female crafts people who operate through platforms such as these as well as Shakespeare’s own depiction of female craft and handcrafted items. It seeks to explore the processes at work in Shakespeare-inspired merchandise and the relationship they claim to the play texts they adapt. The paper will continue by situating ‘female’ oriented creative work within the current political climate and exploring both the possibilities and limitations of craft as a vehicle for political resistance.
Highlights
Maria Grazia Chiuri made history when she launched her Spring 2017 collection of clothing down the runways of Paris Fashion Week
The statement’s ancestry and its connections to a radical feminism has not been explicitly recognised by Gurung who claims influence from “what Gloria Steinam was doing in the 70s” (Reed, Moore 2017) but it is acknowledged by the independent retailer Otherwild who sell a version of the same t-shirt with 25% of proceeds donated to the American reproductive health care charity, Planned Parenthood
Shakespeare’s place in all of this and seeming popularity on Etsy speaks to his ability to be at once a reliable source of income, a recognisable brand and a mass-commodified item and the occasion for individual, handmade, small-scale specialist production in accordance with the website’s purpose
Summary
Maria Grazia Chiuri made history when she launched her Spring 2017 collection of clothing down the runways of Paris Fashion Week. Shakespeare’s place in all of this and seeming popularity on Etsy (or at the very least the expectation thereof; we cannot be sure how many of these items are ever sold) speaks to his ability to be at once a reliable source of income, a recognisable brand and a mass-commodified item and the occasion for individual, handmade, small-scale specialist production in accordance with the website’s purpose This is perhaps all the more remarkable because, unlike the makers of Game of Thrones or Harry Potter-inspired goods, online Shakespearean sellers do not rely upon a singular or stable intellectual property. E-ISSN 2420-823X ISSN 2385-1635 able clothing, self-confidence and ability, or an unapologetic boldness This newer meaning, like the potential attribution of the description to a small child, works to lessen the line’s original insulting quality and to reframe it instead as an admiring statement of female power. That this is a strategy that makes a virtue of its unlikeliness is evident in the quasi-surprised tone of the copy used to sell the ‘though she but little’ medal holder display racks: ‘Sometimes big things come in small packages!’
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