On the Date, Sources and Design of Shakespeare's The Tempest

This book challenges a longstanding and deeply ingrained belief in Shakespearean studies that The Tempest--long supposed to be Shakespeare's last play--was not written until 1611. In the course of investigating this proposition, which has not received the critical inquiry it deserves, a number of subsidiary and closely related interpretative puzzles come sharply into focus. These include the play's sources of New World imagery; its festival symbolism and structure; its relationship to William Strachey's True Reportory account of the 1609 Bermuda wreck of the Sea Venture (not published until 1625)--and the tangled history of how and why scholars have for so long misunderstood these matters. Publication of some preliminary elements of the authors' arguments in leading Shakespearean journals (starting in 2007) ignited a controversy that became part of the critical history. This book presents the case in full for the first time.

Table of Contents:
Table of Contents Acknowledgments Foreword by William S. Niederkorn Introduction Timeline of Events Related to William Strachey’s True Reportory and the Bermuda Wreck of July 1609 Part I: A Movable Feast 1. A First Draft of William Strachey’s True Reportory 2. “O Brave New World” 3. Caliban’s Island 4. Amazing Storms 5. A Spanish Maze 6. Prospero’s Labyrinth 7. A Movable Feast 8. Where in the World? 9. An Elizabethan Tempest Part II: What’s Past Is Prologue 10. A “Standard Thesis” 11. B to the Rescue 12. Who Made the Addendum? 13. Shortcuts Make Long Delays 14. William Strachey, Plagiarist 15. A History of Error 16. Beyond a Reasonable Doubt 17. An Eyewitness? 18. A “Just So” Story 19. The Myth of Strachey’s Influence Postscript: Something Rich and Strange Appendices A. Table of David Kathman’s Alleged Storm Scene Influences with Antecedent Passages in Shakespeare B. Plot and Theme Parallels Between Die Schöne Sidea and The Tempest C. Comparison of Richard Martin’s December 1610 Requests for Information with Passages from True Reportory Chapter Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Roger A. Stritmatter is an associate professor of humanities at Coppin State University and general editor of Brief Chronicles: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Authorship Studies. He has published on Shakespearean topics in a range of academic journals, including The Shakespeare Yearbook, Review of English Studies, and the Scandinavian Psychoanalytic Review. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland. Lynne Kositsky is a poet, author, and independent researcher whose honors include the E.J. Pratt Medal and Award for Poetry and the Canadian Jewish Book Award for Youth. Her articles with Roger Stritmatter on the dating and sources of Shakespeare’s The Tempest have appeared in journals such as The Oxfordian and Critical Survey. She lives in Vineland, Ontario.

Review :
“terrific...well-designed and a pleasure to read”—The Oxfordian: Annual Journal of the Shakespeare Oxford Society.