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.
This Element examines recent documentaries depicting marginalized youth who are ostensibly redeemed by their encounters with Shakespeare