First published in 1977.
This book ascertains what sources Shakespeare used for the plots of his plays and discusses the use he made of them; and secondly illustrates how his general reading is woven into the texture of his work. Few Elizabethan dramatists took such pains as Shakespeare in the collection of source-material. Frequently the sources were apparently incompatible, but Shakespeare's ability to combine a chronicle play, one or two prose chronicles, two poems and a pastoral romance without any sense of incongruity, was masterly. The plays are examined in approximately chronological order and Shakespeare's developing skill becomes evident.
- ISBN10 0300022123
- ISBN13 9780300022124
- Publish Date 1 January 1978 (first published 10 November 1977)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 18 May 2011
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Yale University Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 320
- Language English