Shakespeare, Computers, and the Mystery of Authorship

Using computer analysis, this book confronts the main unsolved mysteries of authorship in Shakespeare's canon, providing some surprising conclusions.

Hugh Craig (Edited by), Arthur F. Kinney (Edited by)

9780521516235, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 27 August 2009

256 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.6 cm, 0.51 kg

'It may contribute to the most exciting, and enduringly important, Shakespeare scholarship of our time …' Gary Taylor, University of Newcastle

In this book Craig, Kinney and their collaborators confront the main unsolved mysteries in Shakespeare's canon through computer analysis of Shakespeare's and other writers' styles. In some cases their analysis confirms the current scholarly consensus, bringing long-standing questions to something like a final resolution. In other areas the book provides more surprising conclusions: that Shakespeare wrote the 1602 additions to The Spanish Tragedy, for example, and that Marlowe along with Shakespeare was a collaborator on Henry VI, Parts 1 and 2. The methods used are more wholeheartedly statistical, and computationally more intensive, than any that have yet been applied to Shakespeare studies. The book also reveals how word patterns help create a characteristic personal style. In tackling traditional problems with the aid of the processing power of the computer, harnessed through computer science, and drawing upon large amounts of data, the book is an exemplar of the new domain of digital humanities.

1. Introduction Hugh Craig and Arthur F. Kinney
2. Methods Hugh Craig and Arthur F. Kinney
3. The three parts of Henry VI Hugh Craig
4. Authoring Arden of Faversham Arthur F. Kinney
5. Edmond Ironside and the question of Shakespearean authorship Philip Palmer
6. The authorship of The Raigne of Edward the Third Timothy Irish Watt
7. The authorship of the Hand-D addition to The Book of Sir Thomas More Timothy Irish Watt
8. The 1602 additions to The Spanish Tragedy Hugh Craig
9. Transforming King Lear Arthur F. Kinney
Conclusion Arthur F. Kinney
Appendix A. Plays in the corpus
Appendix B. A list of 200 function words
Glossary.

Subject Areas: Shakespeare studies & criticism [DSGS], Literary studies: general [DSB], Literature: history & criticism [DS]