Shakespeare's Forgotten Allegory Vice, Virtue, and Spoilt Children

"Shakespeare's Forgotten Allegory reveals the importance and the evolution of the spoilt brat through 300 years of Renaissance drama. It identifies the moral paradigms that playwrights linked to the figure, and applies this insight to familiar characters with impressive results. His analysis of Sir Andrew Aguecheek is outstanding."

--Ursula Potter, Sydney University

"The prodigal son is a familiar paradigm, but I had never heard of the underlying idea of the cockered child before reading Julian Real's original and careful book. He brings into creative focus a key cultural notion in Shakespeare's world that we have forgotten."

--Emma Smith, University of Oxford