If William Shakespeare Had Written Star Wars
By: Maria Popova“In time so long ago begins our play / In star-crossed galaxy far, far away.”
Though William Shakespeare regularly dominates surveys of the greatest literature of all time, he remains a surprisingly controversial figure of literary history — while some believe The Bard profoundly changed modern life, others question whether he wrote anything at all. Doubts of authorship aside, one thing Shakespeare most certainly didn’t write is the cult-classic Star Wars — but he, as Ian Doescher brilliantly imagines, could have: Behold William Shakespeare’s Star Wars (public library), a masterwork of literary parody on par with the household tips of famous writers and Edgar Allan Poe as an Amazon reviewer.
Accompanying Doescher’s sonnets are ominously beautiful illustrations by Paris-based artist Nicolas Delort.
William Shakespeare’s Star Wars is delightful in its entirety and the best thing since Star Wars reimagined as a Muppets comic.
Images courtesy of Quirk Books
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