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1981
20th Anniversary
  • ISSN: 1539-7785
  • E-ISSN: 2048-0717

Abstract

Over 400 years ago, during the early days of the print revolution, William Shakespeare offered insights into the media environment of his times. Though he was a poet and playwright, his observations were strikingly similar to those of Marshall McLuhan in the twentieth century. In every one of his plays there appear media references: books, letters, reading and writing. This essay examines how he viewed the impact of literacy and printing on both individuals and the society at large.

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2021-12-01
2026-04-21

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References

  1. Hunter, Dard. ( 1943), Papermaking, New York:: Dover;.
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  2. McLuhan, Marshall. ( 1962), The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man, Toronto:: University of Toronto Press;.
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  3. McLuhan, Marshall. ( 1964), Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, New York:: McGraw-Hill;.
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  4. Shakespeare, William. ( 1988), The Complete Works, (eds. Wells, S., & Taylor, G..), Oxford:: Clarendon;.
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  5. Linton, David. ( 2021;), ‘ McLuhan on Shakespeare and Shakespeare as McLuhan. ’, Explorations in Media Ecology, 20:4, pp. 421–26, https://doi.org/10.1386/eme_00107_1
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  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): Elizabethan; letters; literacy; McLuhan; printing press; Shakespeare

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