Shakespeare's Adolescents: Age, Gender and the Body in Shakespearean Performance and Early Modern Culture

(Hardback)

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Shakespeares adolescents examines the varied representation of adolescent characters in Shakespeares plays. Using early modern medical knowledge and an understanding of contemporary theatrical practices, the book unpacks complexities that surrounded the cultural and theatrical representations of signs associated with an individuals physical maturation. Each chapter explores the implications of different signs of puberty, in verbal cues, facial adornments, vocal traits and body sizes, to illuminate how Shakespeare presents vibrant adolescent selves and stories.
By analysing female and male puberty together in its discussion of adolescence, Shakespeares adolescents provides fresh insight into the age-based symmetry of early modern adolescent identities. The book uses the adolescents state of transformation to illuminate how the unfixed nature of adolescence was valued in early modern culture and through Shakespeares celebrated characters and actors.

Author Bio

Victoria Sparey is Senior Lecturer in Early Modern Literature at the University of Exeter