MixedThe Wall Street JournalMr. Greenblatt provides genuine insight into Shakespeare’s views on politics, but by using them to criticize a contemporary politician, he risks distorting the meaning of the plays. He also needlessly elevates Mr. Trump’s stature by discussing him in the company of world-historical individuals from Julius Caesar to the kings of England. I am not convinced that the Tower of London and Trump Tower belong in the same universe of discourse ... Tyrant documents the centrality of politics in Shakespeare’s works, revealing how well he understood and portrayed such basic political concepts as sovereignty, legitimacy, leadership and tyranny ... The strongest part of Tyrant is Mr. Greenblatt’s opening analysis of the three Henry VI plays and Richard III ... Mr. Greenblatt also handles his central subject well, convincingly establishing that a critique of tyranny is basic to Shakespeare’s presentation of political life ... Mr. Greenblatt strains, in sometimes embarrassing ways, to create parallels between situations in Shakespeare’s plays and contemporary politics ... Some readers may find these touches amusing, but the humor generally falls flat. And the author’s agenda leads him into some basic errors of history.
