'Spoofing Celebrities': Shakespearean Parodies of Edmund Kean

The Romantic age, and theatre in particular, figure large in celebrity studies. Edmund Kean was the most celebrated actor and the pre-eminent Shakespearean interpreter of the time. Kean, however, was also straightforwardly notorious. Exceedingly exhibitionist and extravagant in his personal life, he reveled in scandal. His signature stage role was Richard III, and when, in January 1825, the actor became the target of ferocious parody in the press in consequence of a trial for criminal conversation, this and other Shakespearean roles that he had successfully interpreted over the years were suddenly used to attack him. The article examines the verbal and visual parodies of Kean based on Shakespeare that were produced for the occasion, focusing on the multi-level appropriation (or misappropriation) of the Bard in the affair