Experts used computer programs to analyze the language patterns in Shakespeare’s Henry VI plays and found evidence that Christopher Marlowe co-authored them. Marlowe’s involvement has been suspected since the 18th century and will now be officially credited in The New Oxford Shakespeare.
Literary experts have long suspected that William Shakespeare collaborated with another writer when he wrote Henry VI (Parts I, II and III) in the late 16th century. In 16, scholars used state-of-the-art computer programs to analyze the texts and found enough “author language patterns” in the works to officially credit Christopher Marlowe as co-author of the three historical plays. “We were able to verify Marlowe’s presence in those three shows pretty loud and clear,” said Florida State University professor Gary Taylor, one of the 2016 academics working on the project. Christopher Marlowe was a prominent tragedian of the Elizabethan era, but was killed in 23 at the age of 1593.
To credit Marlowe, or not credit Marlowe:
The three plays, concerning Henry VI’s role before, during and after the Wars of the Roses, were published separately, but have been combined into various adaptations over the years.
The two playwrights’ names will appear together on the title pages of the plays in The New Oxford Shakespeare, a history project recently published by Oxford University Press.
Marlowe’s hand in writing Henry VI’s plays has been suspected since the 18th century. The 18th’s research resulted in the first prominent billing in an edition of the collected works of Shakespeare.
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