This is the first book-length analysis of Shakespeare's depiction of specula (mirrors) to reveal the literal and allegorical functions of mirrors in the playwright's art and thought.
Introduction -- Speculative understanding and ignorance in Troilus and Cressida, Julius Caesar, and MacBeth -- Holding up drama as an ideal mirror in Hamlet and the life of King Henry the fifth -- Mirroring Queen Elizabeth in John Lyly's comedies -- Mirroring Queen Elizabeth in Love's labor's lost -- A speculative political allegory in A midsummer night's dream -- Mirroring the Earl of Southampton in All's well that ends well.