The True Performing of it (Bob Dylan & William Shakespeare)

The True Performing Of It places the two writers side by side and examines the resultant analogies in their work that spring from this positioning. After a teasing prologue, the book begins by reflecting on the significance of Dylan’s remarks on Shakespeare when accepting the Nobel Prize for Literature, before examining their shared Bardic qualities, and their position of being feted for their undoubted literary qualities despite both being primarily artists of live performances of drama and music. The movement from ‘low’ to ‘high’ art is traced and its implications explored in depth and detail, as is the fierce opposition that the parallel theatrical and musical transitions from communal folk art to professional entertainment engendered. The parallels in their approaches to performing art, use of language and source material form core chapters of the book. The last section of the book is an in-depth focus on The Tempest and Tempest as specific examples of the theories and generalities explored in previous chapters.