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Shakespeare: Canon and Apocrypha

Did the Bard Really Write All the Plays Attributed to Him?

Aug 22, 2008 Powder Thompson

Shakespeare may have written more plays than you know. In addition to accepted canon, there are several apocryphal works attributed to him. The jury is still out.

William Shakespeare is commonly held to be one of the greatest writers in Western literature. What is in greater contention is what, exactly, he wrote. In addition to the plays which are generally accepted to be of his authorship, there are a number of additional works which experts are in dispute over. They cannot agree if certain plays or speeches were, or were not, penned Shakespeare’s hand. This is the dividing line between canon and apocrypha.

Canon

Canon can be defined as "the works of an author that have been accepted as authentic." The most common assessment of Shakespeare’s canon rests at a total of 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and a small number of other works of prose and poetry. The plays include well known examples such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet, as well as more unfamiliar works such as King John and Pericles, Prince of Tyre.

Apocrypha

Apocrypha can be defined as "writings, statements, etc., of doubtful authorship or authenticity." At present, at least eleven plays have been, at one time or another, attributed to Shakespeare. These plays comprise the apocrypha. The following plays have at one time or another been attributed to Shakespeare, but are not currently accepted as canon: Arden of Faversham; The Birth of Merlin; Locrine; The London Prodigal; The Puritan; The Second Maiden’s Tragedy; Sir John Oldcastle; Thomas Lord Cromwell; A Yorkshire Tragedy; Edward III and Sir Thomas More. The previous list should not be taken to be a complete catalog of all plays that qualify as Shakespearean apocrypha, although it does comprise the best known examples.

The Deciding Factor

At present, there is no hard definition as to the ultimate limits of the Shakespearean canon. Some academics wish to expand the canon to include works that were collaborations between Shakespeare and other writers, or works which include a speech or scene written by Shakespeare. As there is often no clear proof of authorship, the deciding factor tends to be the current trend in academic opinion on any particular piece of work.

A current example of this can be found in the play Sir Thomas More, which is included in the The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works (2nd Edition). The play is not, however, included in The Arden Shakespeare Complete Works. In the end, only time will tell whether or not a given piece of the apocrypha will be accepted as worthy of entry into the canon.

The copyright of the article Shakespeare: Canon and Apocrypha in Shakespearean Theatre is owned by Powder Thompson. Permission to republish Shakespeare: Canon and Apocrypha in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.