Critical Companion to William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare A Literary ReferenceVOLUME ICHARLES BOYCE

In the 14 years since the first edition of this book was published, study of the playwright and his works has proceeded apace, though with the usual healthy amount of dissent the field seems always to stimulate: A new play, Edward III, has been admitted to the panoply of the works; another Cardenio, has been published as such but generally rejected; two poems—A FUNERAL ELEGY and “SHALL I DIE?”— much under discussion in 1990 as possibly Shakespeare’s, have been assigned elsewhere; and our constantly coursing curiosity about the man and his works have continued to spur inquiry, including recent investigations into his possible Catholicism and his probable collaboration with other playwrights. And of course, Shakespeare provides, as always, grist for the various mills of literary theory, though these tedious machines are not dealt with here.

Indeed, it is worth remarking again that this book is not meant as scholarship; my intention has been to assemble conveniently a body of lore for the information and entertainment of the student and general reader. I have not studied the book with references to the scholarship of others that underlies it, for I have assumed that most readers will have little interest in knowing, say, who first suggested that Brian ANNESLEY was a living model for King Lear’s madness. I make no claim to having discovered this possibility, though I do not name the scholar who did. It is enough that someone did, and that the discovery came to my attention so that I can bring it to yours.