Shakespeare's Boys

This cultural history provides the first comprehensive study of boy characters across Shakespeare's complete works, examining these young male roles within their original early modern contexts while tracing their evolution through centuries of stage and screen performance. Knowles moves beyond familiar figures like young Hamlet and Prince Arthur to explore the full spectrum of boyhood in Shakespeare's dramatic universe, analyzing how these characters functioned in their own time and how subsequent eras have reinterpreted them.

What makes this study particularly valuable is its dual focus on historical context and performance history, allowing readers to see how cultural attitudes toward childhood have shaped—and been shaped by—these enduring theatrical creations. Theater practitioners, literary scholars, and anyone fascinated by Shakespeare's enduring relevance will find rich material here, as Knowles demonstrates how these boy characters serve as cultural barometers, reflecting changing ideas about masculinity, education, and the very nature of childhood across four centuries of interpretation.