"Speak It in Welsh": Wales and the Welsh Language in Shakespeare examines the marginalized Welsh voice in Shakespeare's plays and seeks to understand why Shakespeare may have included Wales and the Welsh in his plays as he reacts to, reflects, and contributes to the formation of early modern Britain. Today, contemporary English playwrights seldom turn to Wales as a subject or setting for their works, and infrequently do they include Welsh characters in their plays. Yet during the English Renaissance, we find a great many plays about Wales, set in Wales, or with Welsh characters on stage entertaining English-speaking audiences. From the quarrelling captains in Henry V to the linguistically challenged lovers in I Henry IV, to the monoglot vocalist Lady Mortimer, to the proud Sir High Evans, Shakespeare creates Welsh characters whose voices, language use, and presence help reflect one aspect of British identity. Beginning with Tudor Welsh language policy and its impact on Welsh identity and Britishness, with attention paid to foreign language usage in the Henriad and the characterization of Wales and the Welsh in Shakespeare's plays,"Speak It in Welsh" illustrates how Shakespeare offers a dramatic portrayal of a newly evolving Britain and how he constructs a model for English and Welsh coexistence for a newly forming British identity.

"The references to the plays are very comprehensive and the historical background informative....She has undoubtedly made a considerable contribution to understanding the position of the Welsh in the time of Elizabeth." - Renaissance Quarterly

"The volume is clearly the result of several years' study and is fully researched and up-to-date, presenting not only a study from the Shakespearean side (the author is an expert in this area) but also casts the net wider and gives a picture of ethnicity in the Elizabethan period, including intermarriage and language problems; the author looks at attitudes to the situation of the Welsh language in the period , and the exiled Welsh in England (and in particular, in London) in the period....The study is successful, and what we have is an interesting and full picture of Elizabethan society with a focus on Wales and the Welsh language....full, informative, and fascinating....Speak It in Welsh is a long-overdue study of this topic and will hopefully prove to be the first of several." - Sixteenth Century Journal