iShakespeare's Political Imaginationiargues that to better understand Shakespeare's plays it is essential to look at the historicism of setting how the places and societies depicted in the plays were understood in the period when they were written. This book offers us new readings of neglected critical moments in key plays, such as Malcolm's final speech in iMacbethiand the Duke's inaction in iThe Merchant of Venice, iby investigating early modern views about each setting and demonstrating how the plays navigate between those contemporary perspectives. Divided into three parts, this book explores Shakespeare's historicist use of medieval Britain and Scotland in iKing Johniand iMacbethiancient Rome ini Julius Caesariand iCoriolanusi and Renaissance Europe through Venice and Vienna in iThe Merchant of Venicei, iOthelloiand iMeasure for Measurei.br br Philip Goldfarb Styrt argues that settings are a powerful component in Shakespeare's worlds that not only function as physical locations, b