Shakespeare and Brexit

I posted about this idea briefly right after the Brexit vote in June, but this past week I had something actually published about how Shakespeare–and Shakespeare’s Pericles–can help us think about the Brexit vote: “From Rome to Tyre to London” in Leadership. In Pericles, Shakespeare presents arguments for and against Union between England and Scotland on the heels of James I’s accession to the throne. English rejection of that Union seems like it parallels current Brexit conversations–but the corollary is in fact far from perfect. In fact, I suggest that Shakespeare’s reasons for fearing Union are the same reasons the UK should not leave the EU, and I tend to think Shakespeare’s right (but, then again, I’m biased).