In a harsh, uncaring world the family is valued as a source of warmth and stability. At the same time, we are increasingly compelled to recognize that families can be oppressive both physically and emotionally. Now for the first time in paperback, Catherine Belsey's richly illustrated account of Shakespeare's plays, in conjunction with early modern images of Adam and Eve, locates the construction of family values in cultural history and politics. She shows the pleasures and anxieties generated in the period by the domestication of desire, parental love and cruelty and the relations between siblings - and discusses how Shakespeare's plays explore these themes.

CATHERINE BELSEY is Research Professor of English at the University of Wales, Swansea, UK.

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Preface
Introduction: Reading Cultural History
Desire in the Golden World: Love's Labour's Lost and As you Like It
Marriage: Imogen's Bedchamber
Parenthood: Hermione's Statue
Sibling Rivalry: Hamlet and the First Murder
Postscript: Passion and Interpretation
Notes
Index.