Jenny Marx and the Critical Reception of Shakespeare (Performances) in 19th Century London and Dublin

Abstract

Despite the predominance of Karl Marx's references to William Shakespeare and the equally advertised presentation of his daughter, Eleanor Marx's promotion of Shakespeare through her literary Association, the Dogberry Club, and her writings, there is no indication that they influenced or eclipsed Jenny Marx's profile as another remarkable Shakespeare enthusiast. However, because of the tendency to downplay Jenny Marx's contribution to the Shakespeare chapter in the intellectual heritage of the Karl Marx family, not many are aware of her writings as a performance critic of Shakespeare's plays. Our interest in this paper is to demonstrate to what extent it could be stated that Jenny Marx is a notable Shakespeare performance critic as could be seen from five of her published journal essays. Similarly, her discussion of the work of Henry Irving as producer, actor and critic of Shakespeare's plays is presented here as one major way of confirming her knowledge of and proficiency in projecting the dynamics of Shakespeare studies and especially the theatrical productions. We equally establish that some of the issues she raises in her essays are among those promoted by some theatre historians and critics roughly a century after. Among the issues raised in her critiques include major theatres in 19thc London and especially those favourably disposed to Shakespeare productions; prominent actors and directors in the English theatre over a two-century period, and particularly those associated with the promotion of Shakespeare's plays; the theatre and production history of Richard III; and rating of the performances of the actors and actresses who appeared in productions of plays by William Shakespeare.