Shakespeare, Co-author: A Historical Study of Five Collaborative PlaysNo issue in Shakespeare studies is more important than determining what he wrote. For over two centuries scholars have discussed the evidence that Shakespeare worked with co-authors on several plays, and have used a variety of methods to differentiate their contributions from his. In thiswide-ranging study, Brian Vickers takes up and extends these discussions, presenting compelling evidence that Shakespeare wrote Titus Andronicus together with George Peele, Timon of Athens with Thomas Middleton, Pericles with George Wilkins, and Henry VIII and The Two Noble Kinsmen with JohnFletcher.In Part One Vickers reviews the standard processes of co-authorship as they can be reconstructed from documents connected with the Elizabethan stage, and shows that every major, and most minor dramatists in the Elizabethan, Jacobean, and Caroline theatres collaborated in getting plays written andstaged. This is combined with a survey of the types of methodology used since the early nineteenth century to identify co-authorship, and a critical evaluation of some 'stylometric' techniques.Part Two is devoted to detailed analyses of the five collaborative plays, discussing every significant case made for and against Shakespeare's co-authorship. Synthesizing two centuries of discussion, Vickers reveals a solidly based scholarly tradition, building on and extending previous work,identifying the co-authors' contributions in increasing detail. The range and quantity of close verbal analysis brought together in Shakespeare, Co-Author present a compelling case to counter those 'conservators' of Shakespeare who maintain that he is the sole author of his plays. |
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Page ix
... literary statistics , both to provide a cautionary tale and to address the situation diagnosed by MacDonald Jackson , in which Most literary scholars unduly distrust statistics , tending to suppose that one ' can prove anything ' by ...
... literary statistics , both to provide a cautionary tale and to address the situation diagnosed by MacDonald Jackson , in which Most literary scholars unduly distrust statistics , tending to suppose that one ' can prove anything ' by ...
Page x
... literary criticism in many areas it is heartening to see scholarship of this quality going from strength to strength . In addition to this general indebtedness , I have been for- tunate in that all four have generously exchanged ...
... literary criticism in many areas it is heartening to see scholarship of this quality going from strength to strength . In addition to this general indebtedness , I have been for- tunate in that all four have generously exchanged ...
Page xviii
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Contents
List of Plates | xv |
List of Tables | xvi |
References and Abbreviations | xviii |
Authorship in English Renaissance Drama | 3 |
DRAMATISTS AS COLLABORATORS | 18 |
Identifying CoAuthors | 44 |
VERSE TESTS | 47 |
PARALLEL PASSAGES | 57 |
DATING AND CHRONOLOGY | 126 |
Introduction | 137 |
Titus Andronicus with George Peele | 148 |
Timon of Athens with Thomas Middleton | 244 |
Pericles with George Wilkins | 291 |
Henry VIII and The Two Noble Kinsmen with Jobn Fletcher | 333 |
Plot and Character in CoAuthored Plays Problems of Coordination | 405 |
Pause Patterns in Elizabethan Drama | 473 |
VOCABULARY | 75 |
LINGUISTIC PREFERENCES | 80 |
FUNCTION WORDS | 90 |
STATISTICS AND STYLOMETRY | 98 |
LANGUAGE CHANGE AND SOCIAL CLASS | 119 |
Abolishing the Author? Theory versus History | 478 |
Bibliograpby | 514 |
Index | 524 |
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Shakespeare, Co-author: A Historical Study of Five Collaborative Plays Brian Vickers No preview available - 2002 |
Common terms and phrases
alliteration analysis argued authorship studies Bassianus blank verse Cambridge canon cent characters cited claim co-author co-authorship collaboration computed critics Cymbeline Dekker Delius double endings drama dramatists E. K. Chambers edition Elizabethan English essay evidence extra monosyllables F. G. Fleay feminine endings figures Fleay Fletcherian Foakes Folio frequently function words hath Henry VIII Henslowe instances Jonson Knight Lake Lavinia linguistic literary London MacDonald Jackson Massinger Masten Maxwell metrical Middleton Mincoff Morton Noble Kinsmen Oliphant Oras Oxford parallels passages pauses Peele Peele's percentage Pericles phrases play play's plot poems poet prose Quarto readers Renaissance Revenger's Tragedy rhyme Saturninus scholarly scholars Second Maiden's Tragedy Shakespeare scenes Shakespearian Shakspere showed Sir Thomas speech stage statistical stylistic stylometry Sykes Table Tamora Tarlinskaja Timon of Athens Titus Andronicus verbal verse line verse style verse tests vocabulary W. W. Greg Wilkins Wilkins's Winter's Tale writers written wrote