Shakespeare the Reviser

The book examines the distinction between revision and rewriting in Early New English literature, analysing over 50 poems and plays from the sixteenth to seventeenth century. Focusing on A Lover’s Complaint, Double Falsehood, and adaptations of Richard II and The Duchess of Malfi, it explores how texts evolved through revision and reinterpretation. Shakespeare as a reviser of others' work is an area of growing scholarly interest. Marina Tarlinskaya draws a formal distinction between editing, revision, and rewriting. The poem A Lover's Complaint serves as an example of revision. Based on linguistic–statistical analysis, Tarlinskaya suggests that Shakespeare needed a poem to round off his 1609 sonnet sequence and, having neither the time nor the inclination to compose one from scratch, he revised an earlier work from the 1590s by a now-forgotten author, adding vocabulary characteristic of his later plays. Shakespeare as a reviser of others' work is an area of growing scholarly interest. Marina Tarlinskaya draws a formal distinction between editing, revision, and rewriting. The poem A Lover's Complaint serves as an example of revision. Based on linguistic–statistical analysis, Tarlinskaya suggests that Shakespeare needed a poem to round off his 1609 sonnet sequence and, having neither the time nor the inclination to compose one from scratch, he revised an earlier work from the 1590s by a now-forgotten author, adding vocabulary characteristic of his later plays.