Harold Holtzer on Abraham Lincoln and William Shakespeare

Synopsis

Lincoln historian Harold Holzer discusses Abraham Lincoln’s interest in the writings of Shakespeare and his penchant for quoting the playwright and attending his plays. President Lincoln carried a volume of Shakespeare’s plays with him around the White House, frequently reading aloud to family and staff, and purportedly outshining any professional of the day with his interpretation of Richard III’s opening soliloquy. Abraham Lincoln used the bard to win a court case, found solace in the speeches when his son Willie died, and analysed and critiqued the plays. Holzer provides the backstory to some of the president’s favourite selections, which were then read by actors. The programme "O, My Offence Is Rank": Lincoln’s Favourite Shakespeare Speeches: Excerpts from Hamlet, Henry IV, Julius Caesar King Lear, Othello, and other plays, held in the Bruno Walter Auditorium, is part of the series "Mystic Chords of Memory: Abraham Lincoln and the Performing Arts" presented by New York Public Library for the Performing Arts for the bicentennial of President Lincoln’s birth.

Language

English

Country

United States

Medium

Multimedia; Television; Video

Technical information

Colour / Sound

Notes

The video and transcript are available at: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/286350-1 (accessed 5.2010).

Subjects

Drama

Keywords

Lincoln, Abraham; politics; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Credits

Contributor

Harold Holzer

Production Company

Name

C-SPAN

Online Retailer

Name

C-Span Video Library

Web

http://www.c-spanvideo.org External site opens in new window

Notes

The entire library of C-SPAN, totalling over 150,000 hours of video from 1987 up to the present day, is now available for free online viewing. C-SPAN, an abbreviation of Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, has been covering US government proceedings since 1979. Compilations of footage relating to particular themes or presidents are also available for sale on DVD.