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Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 4, No. 658.  Saturday, 17 October 1993.
 
From:           William Godshalk <GODSHAWL@UCBEH.SAN.UC.EDU>
Date:           Friday, 15 Oct 1993 22:03:52 -0400 (EDT)
Subject:        Politics and appropriation?
 
I would suggest, for the sake of argument, that the knowledge we now have of
the U.S. Army ban of CORIOLANUS and JULIUS CAESAR does not prove Terry Hawkes's
point. His point, I take it, is that CORIOLANUS was appropriated by the Nazis
in postwar Germany and was therefore outlawed by the Americans. We now learn
that JC was also banned. Am I wrong in believing that the American soldiers
outlawed the plays because the plays were seen as politically incorrect, rather
than because the Nazi remnant (was there one?) actually tried to appropriate
the plays as rallying points? The Americans, if I'm correct, didn't give the
Nazis a chance to appropriate CORIOLANUS. Is this another case of military
intelligence? Is West Point really a secret hotbed of Shakespeare
interpretation?
 
Where I see a clear case of appropriation is in Mel Brooks's THE PRODUCER.
 
From Bangor (Pennsylvania, not Wales), I remain, skeptically yours,
Bill Godshalk

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