Shakespeare's Pictures: Visual Culture in Drama. Keir Elam. London: Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare, 2017. xviii + 380 pp. $108.
forest against government legislation designed to exploit it and restrict its traditional common use often felt impelled to signal their identification with the place by disguising themselves, on their protest outings, as women” (112). Chapter 6 surveys forest plays, mainly Shakespearean, and concludes with a reading ofMacbeth’s BirnamWood, which she calls a “sentient forest” that proves “a punitive but also an autonomous, just and ultimately benevolent judge” (137). The Shakespearean Forest features an afterword by Peter Holland. It’s a detailed account of Barton’s life and works, but it also rehearses a couple of injudicious observations about Barton’s personal appearance and style. In light of how this volume has been framed, their inaptness raised this reader’s eyebrows.