A Self-Evaluation of "The Shakespeare Product"

As part of my Shakespeare class at Brigham Young University, I'll be reviewing the quality of "The Shakespeare Product."  I will follow a format similar to what I used in a review of my classmate Jennifer Prusse's blog a few days ago.  Here it goes...

Posts
- Quantity: Throughout the semester I posted 30 times, and about half of those posts (14) were directly related to my theme of business in Shakespeare.  In a short period of 3 1/2 months, I think I've consistently managed to post valuable content to keep the blog interesting.

Shakepeare's Motives: Financial?

As I've explored the business side of Shakespeare's writing, I think I've unwittingly implied that because Shakespeare had financial incentives, his work or his motives are somehow devalued and his legacy is less significant.  I don't know that I've ever stated this outright, but I think we naturally associate money with greed and avarice and that may lower our estimation of a particular person.  I've wondered if my pursuit of Shakespeare as a product may draw criticism that I'm undermining the literary value.  As I considered this possibility, I arrived at two basic conclusions:

1) Producing plays was Shakespeare's profession, so there's no doubt that he was interested in the financial success of the plays.

When we think of Shakespeare's legendary stories, we like to think he wasn't just motivated by money.  But the fact that playwriting was his profession makes his interest in earning money inevitable.  He was creating a product, because that was his sustenance.

2) I don't believe that Shakespeare's desire for financial gain lessens the value of his work.

Many people love their jobs, but that doesn't mean that they would prefer not to get paid. With a great profession, it's possible to pursue both personal fulfillment and financial. Although Shakespeare certainly was trying to generate revenue, that doesn't mean that he wasn't fully invested in the quality or content of his writing.

Burbage Family and the Shakespeare Business Strategy

This blog explores the business-side of Shakespeare, with a central focus on the Bard and his works as a product.  Learn more about this central theme from a previous post.  

In yesterday's post, I suggested that although I've made some interesting observations about Shakespeare's probable business motivations, I had yet to find conclusive research to demonstrate this.  However, today I tackled my research with an excellent source, The Bedford Companion to Shakespeare (source info), and I found some useful information about the Theater Companies of Shakespeare time, including information about profit, business competition, and appealing to audiences.  In this post, I'll offer information about the following: 1) some of the key figures of the Theater Companies; 2) Shakespeare's participation in the business side of things; 3) insights regarding the performances that contributed to developing Shakespeare into a great product.

The Shakespeare Product: Revisiting its Purpose

Several weeks ago, I presented a hypothesis for my blog that suggests a connection between modern business principles and the proliferation of Shakespeare.  Today I wanted to take some time and reflect, re-evaluate, and make sure that I'm on the right course.  I'll review some of the areas that I've explored and how my research ideas have progressed.  

Early Stages

Although I attempted a variety of random, fun posts about Shakespeare, I realized early on that I wanted to pursue a connection between Shakespeare and business.  To begin, I went after the low-hanging fruit: simple, thematic plot lines or character interactions of Shakespeare that would relate to business scenarios.  At this point, my hypothesis was simple: 

Character and plot in Shakespeare can teach valuable lessons for real-life experiences in business.

Here were some of my efforts:

• I began with an investigation of existing materials and resources that make use of Shakespeare as a business tool.  In particular, I found that Henry the V is a business favorite for exemplifying leadership.  I also located a corporate training company called "Movers and Shakespeares."  After some investigation of this company's training style and emphases, I anticipated that my blog could approach Shakespeare from a similar perspective.
• I attempted a few different analyses that focused on the thematic elements of plays: how the characters treated each other, whether the results were positive or negative.  In particular, an analysis of The Taming of the Shrew demonstrates this experiment.  I also did a close reading of Othello as a leader that used a similar approach.

New Source Page.

This is a brief post to direct you to a new Source page that I added.  I've spent the last few weeks researching Shakespeare (and his writing) as a product, and the source page lists all of the resources that have appeared on my blog.  The source page includes a complete lists of published written works, as well as links that I have referred to in my posts.  Feel free to comment on my sources and suggests other works that might contain relevant information regarding Shakespeare and business.

Can Theater Sustain Itself?

In analyzing Shakespeare as a product, I've spent some time researching the costs and revenue of theatrical productions, from both current and past productions.  Since that research is ongoing and incomplete, I will address it later in a more substantial post.  However, I wanted to share an interesting idea on a similar note, that relates theater to the industrialist entrepreneur Andrew Carnegie.  In a New York Times article from 1904, writer John Corbin addresses the issue of whether or not the theater would be worthy of an endowment from a wealthy businessman such as Carnegie. He then gives Carnegie's take: "The only way to endow a theatre is to buy a ticket at the box office."  Corbin also quotes Daniel Frohman, who said, "An endowed theatre is only a fad.  It is for a class, and not the masses.  A play that does not appeal to the masses would not be a success."