The Authorship of Shakespeare's Plays

A Socio-Linguistic Study

Author Jonathan Hope

This book introduces a new method for determining the authorship of Renaissance plays. Based on the rapid rate of change in English grammar in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, socio-historical linguistic evidence allows us to distinguish the hands of Renaissance playwrights within play texts. The present study focuses on Shakespeare, his collaborations with Fletcher and Middleton, and the apocryphal plays. Among the plays examined are "Henry VIII," "The Two Noble Kinsmen," "Macbeth," "Pericles," and "Sir Thomas More." Using graphs to present statistical data in a readily comprehensible form, the book also contains a wealth of information about the history of the English language during a period of rapid and far-reaching change.

Bio

Jonathan Hope is professor of English in literature at Arizona State University.

Praise for this book

The patience with which Hope has assembled and evaluated his data is matched by the tact with which he applies it.

Times Literary Supplement
Cover of "The Authorship of Shakespeare's Plays" by Jonathan Hope featuring a man writing in a dark room
Date published
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
ISBN
978-0521417372
Genres
Nonfiction, Literature, Language, Humanities, History, Culture, Communication
College or unit
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Department of English

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