Michael Dobson (author)

Michael Dobson is a British Shakespearean scholar, theatre critic, and author. He is best known for his work on the reception and cultural impact of Shakespeare, focusing particularly on how Shakespeare's plays have been adapted, interpreted, and appropriated in different historical and cultural contexts.

Dobson has held academic positions at various universities, including the University of Illinois at Chicago and Birkbeck, University of London, where he is currently Director of the Shakespeare Institute. He is a prolific writer and editor, having authored and co-authored numerous books, articles, and essays on Shakespeare, theatre history, and performance studies.

His notable publications include The Making of the National Poet: Shakespeare, Adaptation and Authorship, 1660-1769 (1992), which explores the early processes of canonization of Shakespeare and the role of adaptation in shaping his reputation. Other significant works include Shakespeare and the Origins of Modernity (2004) and Shakespeare's Creation: The Language of Politics and Play (1992). He has also written extensively on Shakespeare in performance and popular culture.

Dobson's scholarship is characterized by its interdisciplinary approach, drawing on literary criticism, theatre history, cultural studies, and performance theory to provide nuanced and insightful analyses of Shakespeare's enduring legacy. He is a frequent speaker at academic conferences and public events, and his work is widely read and cited by scholars and students in the field of Shakespeare studies.