Pre-Reading Questions

Name:___________________________________________________


9 May 1849, New York Herald

To W. C. Macready, Esq.,
Dear Sir:-The undersigned, having heard that the outrage at the Astor Place Opera House, on Monday Evening, is likely to have the effect of preventing you from continuing your performances [of Shakespeare's Macbeth], and from concluding your intended farewell engagement on the American Stage, take this public method of requesting you to reconsider your decision, and of assuring you that the good sense and respect for order, prevailing in this community, will sustain you on the subsequent nights of your performances.
From reading the letter, what do you think the "outrage at the Astor Place Opera House" was?







Do you think that W. C. Macready went on to perform Macbeth or did the "outrage" make him cut the tour short?







Are Literature and the Arts things people are willing to fight over? To die for? Why or why not?







What do you think of Shakespeare's works? Are they part of American Culture?







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