Shakespeare In The Bush Analysis

In the article Shakespeare in the Bush, the author Laura Bohannan argues on the theory that “human nature is pretty much the same the whole world over”(P1) and that there is only one universal and obvious interpretation to Hamlet. During her trip to West Africa,
Bohannan meets with the Tiv tribe and attempts to narrate the story of Hamlet. The Tiv however offers a different interpretation and thus disproves her theory.

Based on the reception of the Tiv tribe to Hamlet and their contrasting explanation of the events that occur in the story, Bohanna learns how culture and context shape social behavior and perception. Although the elder was ultimately able to predict the ending as is,
Bohannan’s argument remains flawed. How culturally embedded