Immigrant Experiences |
Like many other events in American history, the wave of southern and eastern European immigration that ended in the early twentieth century had some connections to William Shakespeare. Some immigrants and their children were encouraged to learn about his plays and other aspects of Elizabethan life as a way of becoming more “American.” Others established theaters in their own languages, producing Shakespeare in German, Italian, and other translations, which were usually brought over from Europe. Yiddish theaters in American cities also put on many new plays inspired by, or freshly translated from, Shakespeare’s works.