The Sources of Shakespeare's Plays

The Sources of Shakespeare's Plays
Authors
Muir, Kenneth
Publisher
Routledge
ISBN
9780415352994
Date
1977-11-10T00:00:00+00:00
Size
2.06 MB
Lang
en
Downloaded: 28 times

First published in 1977.

This book ascertains what sources Shakespeare used for the plots of his plays and discusses the use he made of them; and secondly illustrates how his general reading is woven into the texture of his work. Few Elizabethan dramatists took such pains as Shakespeare in the collection of source-material. Frequently the sources were apparently incompatible, but Shakespeare's ability to combine a chronicle play, one or two prose chronicles, two poems and a pastoral romance without any sense of incongruity, was masterly. The plays are examined in approximately chronological order and Shakespeare's developing skill becomes evident.