(Brenna Clarke Gray’s article appeared in Book Riot, 7/24; via Pam Green.)
I have a theory that every Shakespeare play has a close cousin in the fast food industry. No, really — hear me out. In the literary canon, Shakespeare’s plays are ubiquitous: you’ve read them, or you’ve watched a staging, or you’ve read or watched a modern adaptation. Likewise, fast food is ubiquitous in our lives: you’ve eaten fast food, or you’ve scolded someone for eating fast food, and even in a food desert where you can’t get an apple, you can usually get a Big Mac.
Speaking of Big Macs, that takes me to my first proof of concept.
Macbeth = McDonald’s: First, we’ve got name similarity. Second, we’ve got market coverage: there’s probably a Macbeth adaptation somewhere in the world every day, and someone is eating a McChicken sandwich in the world every minute. Finally, the reaction people have if you say “Macbeth” in a theatre is identical to the reaction people have if you say “McDonald’s” in a Whole Foods.
But it works beyond Macbeth. Let me take you on a magical journey of the fast food analogs for a sampling of Shakespeare’s body of work
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