Shakespeare and Childhood

by Kate Chedgzoy (Editor), Susanne Greenhalgh (Editor), Robert Shaughnessy (Editor)

This 2007 collection offered the first definitive study of a surprisingly underdeveloped area of scholarly investigation, namely the relationship between Shakespeare, children and childhood from Shakespeare's time to the present. It offers a thorough mapping of the domain in which Shakespearean childhoods need to be studied, in order to show how studying Shakespearean childhoods makes significant contributions both to Shakespearean scholarship, and to the history of childhood and its representations. The book is divided into two sections, each with a substantial introduction outlining relevant critical debates and contextualizing the rich combination of fresh research and readings of familiar Shakespearean texts that characterize the individual essays. The first part of the book examines the significance of the figure of the child in the Shakespearean canon. The second part traces the rich histories of negotiation, exchange and appropriation that have characterised Shakespeare's subsequent relations to the cultures of childhood in literary realms.

298 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Candy Wood]

This is a much more scholarly collection of essays than the others I’ve been reading about Shakespeare and childhood, but it’s still very readable. The contributors are about evenly divided between the US and the UK, plus one based in Dublin, and most are not specialists in children’s literature but are aware of relevant scholarship. The first section focuses on the plays in historical context, exploring questions about how childhood was defined in early modern England and how the children’s parts would have been performed, to what effect. Because some major child roles are in infrequently-performed plays like King John and Titus Andronicus, some of the essays do not refer to more familiar plays at all, but the examples are clear. The essays in part 2 consider various interpretations of Shakespeare for or involving children, including fiction, television, and film as well as stage performance. An annotated list of child characters and an extensive bibliography complete the volume.

[Gort · Rating 1 out of 5]

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