Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Preface ix
4. Acknowledgments xiii
5. A Note on Texts xv
6. Introduction: Interpreting Shakespeare’s Sons – Ambivalence, Rescue, and Revenge 1
7. 1 Paternal Authority and Filial Autonomy in Shakespeare’s England 15
8. 2 Henry VI, Part One: Prototypical Beginnings – The Two John Talbots 41
9. 3 Richard II: Patrilineal Inheritance and the Generation Gap 68
10. 4 Henry IV, Part One: ‘Deep Defiance’ and the Rebel Prince 93
11. 5 Henry IV, Part Two: The Prince Becomes the King (with a Note on Henry V) 125
12. 6 Hamlet: Notes from Underground – Paternal and Filial Subterfuge 152
13. 7 King Lear: The Usurpation of Fathers – and of Fathers and Sons 186
14. 8 Macbeth and the Late Plays: The Disappearance of Ambivalent Sons 211
15. 9 Biographical Coda: William Shakespeare, Son of John Shakespeare 242
16. Appendix 1: Shakespearean Fathers and Sons in Edward III 270
17. Appendix 2: Thomas Plume’s Anecdote: The Merry- Cheeked, Jest-Cracking John Shakespeare, Sir John Mennes, and Sir John Falstaff 278
18. Notes 283
19. Works Cited 331
20. Index 355