Shakespeare and the Idea of Apocrypha
Negotiating the Boundaries of the Dramatic Canon

This book explores the methodologies and assumptions governing answers to the question 'what did Shakespeare actually write?'

Peter Kirwan (Author)

9781107096172, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 16 April 2015

272 pages, 5 b/w illus. 6 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.6 cm, 0.53 kg

'In this smart and timely book, Kirwan returns Shakespeare's apocryphal plays to their original habitat, namely, the repertory of a commercial playing company; thus relocated, the plays may be appraised as they were in their own time: on market value, not authorship.' Roslyn L. Knutson, University of Arkansas

In addition to the thirty-six plays of the First Folio, some eighty plays have been attributed in whole or part to William Shakespeare, yet most are rarely read, performed or discussed. This book, the first to confront the implications of the 'Shakespeare Apocrypha', asks how and why these plays have historically been excluded from the canon. Innovatively combining approaches from book history, theatre history, attribution studies and canon theory, Peter Kirwan unveils the historical assumptions and principles that shaped the construction of the Shakespeare canon. Case studies treat plays such as Sir Thomas More, Edward III, Arden of Faversham, Mucedorus, Double Falsehood and A Yorkshire Tragedy, showing how the plays' contested 'Shakespearean' status has shaped their fortunes. Kirwan's book rethinks the impact of authorial canons on the treatment of anonymous and disputed plays.

Introduction: the idea of Apocrypha
1. Canonising the Apocrypha
2. The Apocrypha in rep
3. Defining 'Shakespeare'
4. Apocryphising the canon
Epilogue: an apocryphal identity
Appendix
Works cited
Index.

Subject Areas: Shakespeare studies & criticism [DSGS], Literary studies: c 1500 to c 1800 [DSBD], Theatre studies [AN]