Criticism and analysis Henry VIII (play)

john fletcher, author of more half of play

the play published work of shakespeare, , accepted such scholars until 1850, when possibility of collaboration john fletcher first raised james spedding, expert on francis bacon. fletcher writer replaced shakespeare principal playwright of king s men. known have collaborated shakespeare on other plays, there no contemporary evidence of play; evidence lies in style of verse, in scenes appears closer fletcher s typical style shakespeare s. not known whether fletcher s involvement can characterised collaboration or revision, though apparent division of scenes between writers suggests former.

spedding , other commentators relied on range of distinctive features in fletcher s style , language preferences, saw in shakespearean play. next century question of dual authorship controversial, more evidence accumulating in favour of collaborative hypothesis. in 1966, erdman , fogel write today majority of scholars accept theory of fletcher s partial authorship, though sturdy minority deny it.

an influential stylistic or stylometric study undertaken cyrus hoy, in 1962 divided play between shakespeare , fletcher based on distinctive word choices, example fletcher s uses of ye , em them. in mid-nineteenth century, james spedding had proposed similar division based on use of eleven-syllable lines; arrived @ same conclusions hoy reach century later. spedding-hoy division accepted, although subsequent studies have questioned of details.

the common delineation of 2 poets shares in play this:

shakespeare: act i, scenes , ii; ii,iii , iv; iii,ii, lines 1–203 (to exit of king); v,i.
fletcher: prologue; i,iii; ii,i , ii; iii,i, , ii, 203–458 (after exit of king); iv,i , ii; v ii–v; epilogue.




^ spedding, james. wrote henry viii? gentleman s magazine, 178 / new series 34, august 1850, pp. 115–23.
^ erdman, david v., , ephraim g. fogel, eds. evidence authorship: essays on problems of attribution. ithaca, n.y., cornell university press, 1966; p. 457. summary of scholarship date, see: pp. 457–78.
^ hoy, cyrus. shares of fletcher , collaborators in beaumont , fletcher canon. studies in bibliography 15 (1962); pp. 71–90.
^ john m. berdan , tucker brooke, life of king henry eighth (yale up, 1925), pp. 155–57.
^ hope, jonathan. authorship of shakespeare s plays. (cup, 1994) pp. 67–83.
^ erdman , fogel, p. 457.