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Quote by Stephen Greenblatt

“Populism may look like an embrace of the have-nots, but in reality it is a form of cynical exploitation. The unscrupulous leader has no actual interest in bettering the lot of the poor. Surrounded from birth with great wealth, his tastes run to extravagant luxuries, and he finds nothing remotely appealing the lives of underclasses... But he sees that they can be made to further his ambition.”

Quote by Stephen Greenblatt

Book:Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics
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Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics

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Stephen Greenblatt
Stephen Greenblatt

Stephen Greenblatt is a renowned literary critic born on November 7, 1943. His research focuses on Renaissance literature, particularly the works of Shakespeare. Known for his innovative research methods and interdisciplinary approach, Greenblatt has had a profound impact on the field of literary criticism. more

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Book:Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics
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“A succession of murders clears the field of most of the significant impediments, actual or potential, to Richard's seizing power. But it is striking that Shakespeare does not envisage the tyrant's climactic accession to the throne as the direct result of violence. To solicit a popular mandate, Richard conducts a political campaign, complete with a fraudulent display of religious piety, the slandering of opponents, and a grossly exaggerated threat to national security.”

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Book:Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics
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“This ad in the middle was placed by some arm of the G-5-to-be, trying to round up a few 're-education' experts. Vital, vital stuff. Teach the German Beast about the Magna Carta, sportsmanship, that sort of thing, eh? Out inside the works of some neurotic Bavarian cuckoo clock of a village, were-elves streaking in out of the forests at night to leave subversive handbills at door and window—'Anything!' Roger groping back to his narrow quarters, 'anything at all's better than this. . . .”

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