Shakespeare's tutor: The influence of Thomas Kyd adds to the critical and scholarly discussion that seeks to establish the early modern playwright Thomas Kyd's dramatic canon, and indicates where and how Kyd contributed to the development of Shakespeare's drama through influence, collaboration, revision and adaptation. A further, complementary aim of the book is to demonstrate various ways in which it is possible to combine statistical analysis with reading plays as literary and performative works.

The book summarises, extends, and corrects all of the scholarship on Kyd's authorship of anonymous plays, and reveals the remarkable extent to which Shakespeare was influenced by his dramatic predecessor. The book represents a significant intervention in the field of early modern authorship studies and aims to revolutionise our understanding of Shakespeare's dramatic development.

About the Author
Darren Freebury-Jones is Lecturer of Shakespeare Studies at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

Reviews

"Darren Freebury-Jones works meticulously, using a clearly explained methodology, to give us a much-expanded canon of Kyd's work ... This does look like a plausibly coherent grouping of dramas, and it gives Freebury-Jones a lot to work with when he examines Kyd's influence on Shakespeare, looking at features such as vengeful female characters, foreboding dreams, dramatic structure and multi-layered staging".
Bart van Es, Times Literary Supplement

"Darren Freebury-Jones's latest book represents a continuation of his revisionary scholarship on adaptation, imitation, and attribution ... this path-breaking monograph ... reveals deep, subtle, and multiform stylistic interaction between Shakespeare and his contemporaries ... the author manages to convey an astonishing amount of evidence with concision in accessible and direct critical language".
Goran Stanivukovic, Modern Language Review

"This stimulating book boldly claims a much more relevant role for Kyd in relation to Shakespeare. The two main objectives of the study are to prove that Kyd's dramatic canon was larger than the three extant plays attributed to him and that his influence on Shakespeare has so far been underestimated ... The book confidently asserts that Kyd played a far more important role than has been acknowledged so far."
Cristina Paravano, The Year's Work in English Studies

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Book Information
ISBN 9781526182616
Author Darren Freebury-Jones
Format Paperback
Page Count 248
Imprint Manchester University Press
Publisher Manchester University Press