THE SHAKESPEARE CANON

The problem of the text

Shakespeare and other men of theatre didn’t ever considered to publish their written texts: they only focused on the performance of plays. Plays were not considered as literary works. Some texts of plays were published without the writer’s permission: for instance they were taken from promptbooks (copies of the text used by actors) or from memory and notes by audience or players themselves. Therefore, texts published were often unreliable.

The ‘quartos’ and the ‘folios’

 People at that time called ‘bad quartos’ those publications, referring to the sheet of paper folded and thus divided into four parts on which they were written, ‘quarto’. A ‘bad quarto’ of Romeo and Juliet was published in 1597; subsequently, in 1599 , a ‘good quarto’ of the play came out. Some ‘quartos’ were good, maybe because sometimes the editor used an original manuscript. In 1623 the first accurate and complete of Shakespeare’s works was published: two players of his own company edited it. It is known as the first ‘folio’, consisting of a sheet of paper folded once.

The problem of the date

Nowadays we do not know when some plays were written or performed.

External evidence

A play may be mentioned in the Stationers’ register, or in other authors’ works. For example, some of Shakespearean plays are quoted in Francis Mere’s Palladis Tamia.

Internal evidence

A play may contain phrases and images taken from other books whose date we are sure; moreover, it may refer to contemporary historical events that help to understand when it was approximately written. For instance, Shakespeare in Hamlet wrote the paraphrase of parts of an English version of Montaigne’s Essays published in 1603, but released before that date: therefore, he shall have written it before 1603.

The dating of the plays

E. K. Chambers made one of the most complete and accurate efforts to date Shakespeare’s plays.