Based On Extensive Archival Research, Shakespeare In The Victorian Periodicals Offers An Entirely New Perspective On Popular Shakespeare Reception By Focusing On Articles Published In Victorian Periodicals. Shakespeare Had Already Reached The Apex Of British Culture In The Previous Century, Becoming The National Poet Of The Middle And Upper Classes, But During The Victorian Era He Was Embraced By More Marginal Groups. If Shakespeare Was Sometimes Employed As An Instrument Of Enculturation, Imposed On These Groups, He Was Also Used By Them To Resist This Cultural Hegemony.--publisher's Description. Introduction : The Nineteenth-century Popular Press And Shakespeare Reception History -- Making Shakespeare Readers In The Early Working Class Press -- Shakespeare For Manly Boys And Marriageable Girls -- Character Criticism And Its Discontents In Periodicals For Women -- The Theatres Regulation Act And The Great Exhibition In The Theatrical Journal -- Victorian Periodicals And England's National Theatre Debate. Kathryn Prince. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 163-175) And Index.