Shakespearean Charity and the Perils of Redemptive Performance

Examining documentaries depicting youths who are redeemed by Shakespeare. These films emerged in response to four historical developments: the rise of reality television; the rise of neoliberalism and emotional capitalism; the privatization of public education and the rise of charter schools; and the emergence of new modes of address.

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This Element examines recent documentaries depicting marginalized youth who are ostensibly redeemed by their encounters with Shakespeare. These films emerge in response to four historical and discursive developments: the rise of reality television and its emphasis on the emotional transformation of the private individual; the concomitant rise of neoliberalism and emotional capitalism, which employ therapeutic discourses to individualize social inequality; the privatization of public education and the rise of so-called “no-excuses” or “new paternalist” charter schools; and the emergence of new modes of address infusing evangelical conversion narratives with a therapeutic self-help ethos.