Shakespeare and Adaptation: Reading the Plague

Abstract

The present paper analyzes Shakespeare’s reading of the contemporary social reality of England, especially London, as a (source) text troubled with plague outbreaks, contagion, dissemination, and enforced quarantines. The numerous references to plague in the language and narrative of the plays reflect how the playwright adapts the traumatic experiences associated with it through allusion, dialogue, metaphor, plot device, and conflation with storytelling itself. From an Adaptation Studies perspective, these references and allusions reveal Shakespeare as a master adapter of not only prior written texts, but also of contemporary events that had a significant impact on the lives of the Elizabethan populace.