I've just started reading Shakespeare: An Anthology of Criticism and Theory 1945-2000 (Russ McDonald, editor) from 2004, and it looks like it's going to be splendid. McDonald has selected representative essays from each of the schools of criticism that were (and are) prevalent in the recent study of Shakespeare and given each a brief but thorough introduction. I'll be writing more about the book as I make my way through it in the days ahead, but for today's post I'd just like to share my wonder at how a body of work written 400 years ago can stand up to being viewed from perspectives as diverse as those contained in the fourteen chapters of this book (have a look at the table of contents: http://www.amazon.ca/Shakespeare-Anthology-Criticism-Theory-1945-2000/dp/0631234888) and still not be exhausted in terms of meaning. I'd like to see any of the literature proposed as its replacement in the curriculum do the same.