Shakespeare's Drama as a Case in Point

The point is reiterated that, given present-day knowledge, a valid non-traditional authorship attribution on the dramatic canon of William Shakespeare cannot be carried out. The importance of the search for valid input texts is stressed by pointing out several problems. The “garbage in, garbage out” concept is shown to be a valid concern. The recent Freebury-Jones book, Shakespeare’s Borrowed Feathers , is shown to give critical emphasis to the “borrowing” aspects of Shakespeare’s drama and the roiling disagreements in the field. Some of the many, many disagreements over the construction of the experimental plans by respected scholars are listed or referred to. The necessity of controlling for intra-genres is discussed – with examples given.