Shakespeare's Resources

John Drakakis is Emeritus Professor of English Studies at the University of Stirling

'Drakakis finds the idea of ‘source’ or ‘authority’ too narrow. The sheer scope of materials to which Shakespeare had access, the the circumstances in which the playwright utilized them, he argues, mean that ‘source’ and ‘authority’ imply a ‘quasi-theological’ concept of creation. Instead of ‘source’ or ‘authority’, Drakakis offers ‘resources’, a term that, as he uses it, is much more open-ended. A resource could be a book, but it could also be a half-forgotten encounter or, in Shakespeare’s case, the experience of having written an earlier play ... Each of his chapters is deeply engaged with the history of Shakespeare scholarship, on which he commentates with generosity and from which he quotes at length ... He closes on a musical metaphor, presenting Shakespeare as one who could ‘repeat tunes, recall motifs to mind, imitate themes and memes, improvise on existing material and, on a number of occasions, innovate’.Times Literary Supplement'John Drakakis’s approach to Shakespeare’s ‘sources’ needs and deserves a long review.'Modern Language Review

• Introduction1 The legacy of Geoffrey Bullough 2 Myths of origin3 Textual economies4 Trafficking in intertextuality5 The nature of con-text 6 From formula to text: Theatre, form, meme and reciprocity7 The Thorello Plays: Shakespeare, Jonson and the circulation of theatrical ideas8 Shakespeare as resourceConclusion – The elephant in the graveyardBibliographyIndex