With Shakespeare’s Eyes: Pushkin’s Creative Appropriation of Shakespeare

With Shakespeare’s Eyes is the first monograph to focus exclusively on the relationship between the Russian poet Alexander Puskin and Shakespeare. Taking into account contemporary perceptions of Shakespeare in print and on the Russian stage, O'Neil examines all levels of poetic influence of Shakespeare on Pushkin. In addition to untangling the central presence of Shakespeare in Pushkin’s historical tragedy Boris Godunov, O'Neil examines Shakespeare’s influence in many other works by Pushkin, an influence that ranges from the textual to the conceptual. The Shakespeare plays addressed most closely in this book are Othello, Measure for Measure, and Julius Caesar, all of which interact in a dynamic way with Pushkin’s creative development. This book will help English readers understand better what it means to say Pushkin is ‘the Shakespeare of Russia.