Shakespeare has made the big-time in the idiomatic sense of cultural success and widespread notoriety. Other literary figures may achieve canonical status within the academic community based on claims for artistic distinction, but Shakespeare is unusual in that he has also achieved contemporary celebrity. His aptitude for controversy constantly keeps his name in the public eye. Bristol discusses the supply side of cultural production and argues that Shakepeare retains his authority, at least in part, because suppliers of cultural goods have been skilful at generating a social desire for products that bear his trademark and in creating merchandise to satisfy that desire. Big-Time Shakespeare suggests that his plays represent the pathos of our civilisation with extraordinary force and clarity. His characters remain interesting because we recognize what they are going through. Shakespeare's contradictory understanding of the social and cultural past is also examined through readings of The Winter's Tale , Othello and Hamlet . Bristol attempts to bridge the gap between conservative demands for unreflective affirmation of the ideals and achievements of Western civilisation and the equally unhelpful oppositional programs of compulsive resistance and critique.