The Problem of The Reign of King Edward III: A Statistical Approach (New Cambridge Shakespeare Studies and Supplementary Texts) - Hardcover

Slater, Eliot

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521343534 ISBN 13: 9780521343534

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1988

Synopsis

The Reign of King Edward III (1596) is a little-known Elizabethan play of uncertain authorship, some or all of which has long been considered possibly to have been Shakespeare's work. In assessing the origins of King Edward III, Slater's book is pioneering in its use and extension of vocabulary tests to solve problems of authorship. The author reviews the debate regarding the creation of King Edward III. Following a survey of applications of quantitative methods to literary problems, he examines the authorship of Edward III by means of a statistical study of the play's rare words, and their links with rare words in Shakespeare's canonical plays. This is a technique developed by Slater himself and is of particular interest to literary scholars and stylometrists. The investigation indicates that the play was written by Shakespeare. The book therefore provides important evidence to suggest that an exciting and much-neglected play should be admitted into the canon of Shakespeare's early history plays.

About this title

Book Description

The Reign of King Edward III (1596) is a little-known Elizabethan play of uncertain authorship, some of which has long been considered possibly to have been Shakespeare's work. In assessing the origins of King Edward III, Slater's book is pioneering in its use and extension of vocabulary tests to solve problems of authorship.

Synopsis

The author reviews the debate regarding the creation of "Edward III" and examines the authorship by means of a statistical study of the play's rare words and their links with rare words in Shakespeare's canonical plays. The investigation indicates that the play was written by Shakespeare.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1988
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521343534
• ISBN 13: 9780521343534
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288