Double Falsehood (Arden Shakespeare, Third Series)

by William Shakespeare, Brean Hammond (Editor), Richard Proudfoot (Editor), Ann Thompson (Editor), David Scott Kastan (Editor)

Overview

On December 1727 an intriguing play called Double Falshood; Or, The Distrest Lovers was presented for production by Lewis Theobald, who had it published in January 1728 after a successful run at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London. The title page to the published version claims that the play was 'Written Originally by W.SHAKESPEARE'.

Double Falsehood's plot is a version of the story of Cardenio found in Cervantes's Don Quixote (1605) as translated by Thomas Shelton, published in 1612 though in circulation earlier. Documentary records testify to the existence of a play, certainly performed in 1613, by John Fletcher and William Shakespeare, probably entitled The History of Cardenio and presumed to have been lost. The audience in 1727 would certainly have recognised stage situations and dramatic structures and patterns reminiscent of those in Shakespeare's canonical plays as well as many linguistic echoes.

This intriguing complex textual and performance history is thoroughly explored and debated in this fully annotated edition, including the views of other major Shakespeare scholars. The illustrated introduction provides a comprehensive overview of the debates and opinions surrounding the play and the text is fully annotated with detailed commentary notes as in any Arden edition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781903436776
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	05/01/2010
Series:	The Arden Shakespeare Third Series , #5
Edition description:	Third Edition
Pages:	464
Product dimensions:	5.18(w) x 7.85(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was an English dramatist, poet, and actor, generally regarded as the greatest playwright of all time.

BREAN HAMMOND is Professor of English at the University of Nottingham, UK.

Professor Richard Proudfoot served as Senior General Editor of the Arden Shakespeare for 35 years, until his retirement from King's in 1999. In 2001 The Arden Shakespeare published Proudfoot's Shakespeare: Text, Stage and Canon a critical overview of the scholarly achievements made in the field of Shakespeare studies by the end of the twentieth century.

ANN THOMPSON is Emeritus Professor in English at King' s College London UK.

David Scott Kastan is the George M. Bodman Professor of English at Yale University, USA.

Henry Woudhuysen is Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford, UK.

Date of Death:

2018

Place of Birth:

Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom

Place of Death:

Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom

Editorial Reviews

The publication of Theobald's adaptation in the Arden Shakespeare series is to be welcomed.” —Jonathan Bate, Daily Telegraph

“For most of the three centuries since its debut, Double Falsehood; or, the Distrest Lovers has been ridiculed as a hoax or just disregarded. Yesterday that changed when The Arden Shakespeare, one of the best regarded scholarly editions of Shakespeare's plays, published Double Falsehood, endorsing its credentials and making it available for the first time in 250 years.” —The Times

“The play's 'bardic provenance' has been given fresh credibility by publishers Arden, who have included it in a new series of Shakespeare's work. The publication of the play, which is bound to spark heated scholarly discussion, comes after a ten year mission to crack a literary mystery by Professor Brean Hammond, of Nottingham University.” —Daily Mail

“Professor Brean Hammond will publish compelling new evidence next week that the play is.. substantially based on a real Shakespeare play called Cardenio. Hammond has been backed in his assertion by the Shakespeare published Arden...” —The Guardian

“This week, British publishers Arden Shakespeare published the play for the first time in 250 years with evidence Hammond has gathered over the past decade that shows Shakespeare's hand in the work, which was co-written by John Fletcher.” —CNN.com

“Play, possibly reworked from Shakespeare, is added to a literary collection:: A play from the 1700s contains reworked material of Shakespeare's has gained a qualified endorsement from the Arden Shakespeare, a scholarly anthology of that playwright's work.” —New York Times

“...a thorough and judicious account of the relevant scholarship....Brean Hammond's excellent edition is indispensable.” —Times Literary Supplement (May 2010)

“The play was recently published by the Arden Shakespeare, for the first time in 250 years, with evidence Prof Hammond has gathered over the past decade that shows Shakespeare's hand in the work.” —Birmingham Post (July 2010)

“It is brilliant and unusual; the Bard's style and influence seemed irrefutable...even though there is a darker twist to the dialogue and plot than one might expect from him immediately.” —The Observer (January 2011)

From the Publisher

The Culture Top 10: What you must see, hear and read this month

Town and Country Magazine

Brean Hammond's lively introduction to his Arden edition of the play offers a thorough and judicious account of the relevant scholarship. His cautious conclusion is that Shakespeare had indeed collaborated with Fletcher on Cardenio and that vestiges of his handiwork remain in Double Falsehood....Hammond has made some notable discoveries...Brean Hammond's excellent edition, complete with six valuable appendices, is indispensable.

Times (of London) Literary Supplement

The little-known 18th century play was propelled into the literary limelight...when it was claimed as a lost Shakespeare....Professor Brean Hammond will publish compelling new evidence that the play...is substantially based on a real Shakespeare play called Cardenio....The claim represents 10 years of literary detective work by Hammond.

The Guardian

The play's 'bardic provenance' has been given fresh credibility by publishers Arden, who have included it in a new series of Shakespeare's work. The publication of the play, which is bound to spark heated scholarly discussion, comes after a ten year mission to crack a literary mystery by Professor Brean Hammond, of Nottingham University.

Daily Mail

For most of the three centuries since its debut, Double Falsehood has been ridiculed as a hoax or just disregarded. That changed when The Arden Shakespeare, one of the best regarded scholarly editions of Shakespeare's plays, published Double Falsehood, endorsing its credentials and making it available for the first time in 250 years.

The Times (of London)

The prestigious Arden Shakespeare series has been making headlines...with the heavily annotated scholarly volumes [which] will include an unfamiliar title Double Falsehood...What is certain is that there are many more plays in which Shakespeare migh have had a hand.

The Scotsman

Brean Hammond's lively introduction to his Arden edition of the play offers a thorough and judicious account of the relevant scholarship. His cautious conclusion is that Shakespeare had indeed collaborated with Fletcher on Cardenio and that vestiges of his handiwork remain in Double Falsehood....Hammond has made some notable discoveries...Brean's excellent edition, complete with six valuable appendices, is indispensable.

Times Literary Supplement

Hammond's analysis of the play seems to support Theobald's claims. Hammond says that in the work he finds the presence of three writers--Theobald, Shakespeare and John Fletcher...Hammond's claim is further bolstered when Arden Shakespeare, a highly regarded publisher of Shakespeare's works, publish[ed] an edition of the play edited by Hammond.

Christian Science Monitor

Brilliant and unusual...the Bard's style and influence seemed irrefutable.

The Observer

The play has gained a qualified endorsement from the Arden Shakespeare, a scholarly anthology of that playwright's work.

The New York Times

The publication of Theobald's adaptation in the Arden Shakespeare series is to be welcomed. And even more exciting is news that ...The Royal Shakespeare Company is working on a conjectural production of the original.

Daily Telegraph Jonathan Bate