The Sources of Shakespeare's Plays

Know about the book -

The Sources of Shakespeare's Plays is written by Kenneth Muir and published by Routledge. It's available with International Standard Book Number or ISBN identification 1317833422 (ISBN 10) and 9781317833420 (ISBN 13).

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.