The Palgrave Handbook of Shakespeare's Queens - Scholarly

Our review of The Palgrave Handbook of Shakespeare's Queens finds it essential for scholars and advanced students interested in gender, power, and early modern drama. This edited collection gathers essays across Shakespeare's career to treat fifteen queenly figures as complex agents, and its single biggest reason to buy is the interdisciplinary approach: readers get literary, historical, theatrical and visual-art perspectives in one volume that reframes figures from Margaret of Anjou to Hermione as active participants in political and personal drama.

Key Features

• Comprehensive scope: Essays cover fifteen queens across Shakespeare's plays, offering sustained attention to both famous and lesser-known royal women.
• Interdisciplinary perspectives: Contributions from literature, history, theater and the fine arts give a rounded view of queenship and cultural representation.
• Critical framing chapters: Early chapters on Elizabeth I and gender presentation set up a useful theoretical foundation for later case studies.
• Varied case studies: Individual essays analyze issues like motherhood, intertextuality, and political agency, providing multiple angles on each character.
• Career-spanning selection: Coverage moves through Shakespeare's career so readers can trace changing depictions of queenship over time.

Who It's For

This volume is aimed at university instructors, graduate students and researchers in Shakespeare studies, gender studies and early modern history who want a focused collection on royal women as agents of change. Its interdisciplinary essays are especially valuable for seminar reading lists and research that crosses literature and history.

Readers seeking a brief introduction to Shakespeare or a dramatist's handbook for performance professionals may find the essays dense and academically oriented; it is not a general-audience companion or a play-by-play production guide.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Brings together interdisciplinary scholarship to cast queens as active figures rather than peripheral ornaments.
• Includes careful readings of both well-known and lesser-studied queens, widening the scholarly conversation.
• Early theoretical chapters help situate debates about Elizabeth I and gender presentation for later analyses.

Cons

• The academic tone and dense arguments make it less suitable for casual readers or undergraduates seeking a light introduction.

Specifications

Our Verdict

The Palgrave Handbook of Shakespeare's Queens is a strong value for scholars who want a concentrated, interdisciplinary treatment of royal women in Shakespeare. Its essays reframe queenship across plays and periods, making it a useful research and teaching resource despite its inevitably academic tone.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does this book cover all Shakespeare plays with queens?
The collection focuses on fifteen plays that include queen figures rather than every play in the canon.

Is this volume suitable for classroom use?
Yes, it is well suited to graduate seminars and upper-level undergraduate courses, though some essays assume prior familiarity with critical theory.

Are theatrical or visual-art perspectives included?
Yes, contributors include analyses from theater studies and the fine arts alongside literary and historical scholarship.