The Authorship of Shakespeare's Plays A Socio-linguistic Study [Hardcover]

This book introduces a method for determining the authorship of Renaissance plays by examining the rapid rate of change in English grammar.This book introduces a method for determining the authorship of Renaissance plays by examining the rapid rate of change in English grammar in the late sixteenth- and early-seventeenth centuries. 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.This book introduces a method for determining the authorship of Renaissance plays by examining the rapid rate of change in English grammar in the late sixteenth- and early-seventeenth centuries. 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.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-sixteenth and early-seventeenth 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.List of tables and graphs; Preface; Acknowledgements; List of Abbreviations; Part I. Methodology: 1. Introduction; 2. The auxiliary 'do'; 3. Relative markers; 4. 'Thou' and 'you'; Part II: Applications: 5. Shakespeare as collaborator; 6. The Shakespeare apocrypha; Part III. Conclusion: 7.lã!