Shakespeare and Child's Play

This scholarly work offers a groundbreaking examination of how Shakespeare populated his plays with more than fifty child characters, creating the first substantial portrait of childhood in English theatre. The book meticulously analyzes how these young roles—predominantly boys—serve as dramatic fulcrums, pitting sons against fathers and servants against masters to interrogate patriarchal authority. Rutter demonstrates how Shakespeare used these relationships to explore complex ideas about parenting, masculinity, and the moral development of children through themes of nature versus nurture and innocence confronting experience. The study reveals how these child characters become crucial testing grounds for Elizabethan social values and family dynamics.

What distinguishes this academic work is its fresh perspective on familiar plays, revealing how childhood itself functions as a dramatic device in Shakespeare's exploration of power and morality. Readers will discover new dimensions in works ranging from tragic princes to comic pages, understanding how these young characters shape dramatic tension and thematic depth. This book will particularly resonate with literature students, theatre practitioners, and scholars seeking deeper insight into Shakespeare's social commentary. Rutter's analysis fundamentally changes how we perceive the intersection of childhood, performance, and patriarchal structures in Renaissance drama.