It has sometimes been assumed that the difficulty of translating Shakespeare into French has meant that he has had little influence in France. Shakespeare Goes to Paris proves the opposite. Virtually unknown in France in his lifetime, and for well over one hundred years after his death, Shakespeare was discovered in the first half of the eighteenth century as part of a growing French interest in England. Since then, Shakespeare's influence in France has been enormous. Writers from Voltaire to Gide found themselves amazed by a playwright who broke all the rules of French classical theater and challenged the primacy of French culture. Attempts to tame and translate him alternated with uncritical idolization, such as that of Berlioz. In this book, John Premble shows how changing attitudes to Shakespeare have also been an index of French self-esteem.