Shakespeare and the Performance of Girlhood

This groundbreaking academic work offers the first comprehensive examination of Shakespeare's girl characters and the evolving concept of girlhood in his plays. D. Williams traces the development of these young female figures across Shakespeare's career, analyzing how they function as both dramatic constructs and reflections of early modern cultural attitudes. The study moves beyond textual analysis to explore the real-world impact of these characters on girls' lives during the period, creating a multidimensional approach to Shakespearean girlhood that bridges literary criticism and social history.

What distinguishes this scholarly work is its dual focus on representation and reality—how Shakespeare's fictional girls influenced actual girls as performers, patrons, and even writers in early modern England. Williams demonstrates how these characters weren't merely passive creations but active forces that shaped cultural possibilities for young women. Readers interested in feminist literary criticism, Renaissance drama, and the history of childhood will find this study particularly illuminating for its fresh perspective on familiar plays. The book ultimately reveals how Shakespeare's girl characters became powerful agents in the cultural landscape, transforming our understanding of both the plays and the girls who brought them to life.