ShakespeareandCollaborativeWritingoffersarichaccountofShakespeare’sartisticdevelopmentin,against,andbeyondcollaboration.Weseehimafreshasapoeticinnovatorincontinualflux,andincontinualartisticdebt:anauthorshapedbyothersinacollaborativenetworkofintellectualinfluenceanddynamicinterchange,and,thebookargues,onethathehelpedsubstantiallytocreate.Inconsideringcollaborationasapracticedefiningalmostallofhisearliestworks,itshowsthathewasparticularlyactiveinitsdevelopmentintheearlytheatresceneofhisnascentcareer,changingoursenseofhisdevelopmentasacreativeartistquiteradically.Chaptersexploringcollaborationviatheatrehistory,bookhistory,andattributiondebatescomplementthecentralthreechaptersdetailingthedifferentphasesofShakespeare’scollaborativework,whichreorientourshiftingsenseofwhatitmeanttohim,andwhathegainedfromit,attheseotherkeymomentsofhisartisticcareer.Inreconstructingthecircumstancesandoutcomesofhispairingswithotherdramatists,andscrutinizingmorecloselytheirartisticcontributions,ShakespeareandCollaborativeWritingreconsidersthewaysinwhichtheyinfluencedandchallengedhimtoadaptandexperimentwithhiswritinginwaysthatgobeyondthefeaturesofhissolo-authoredcanon.Inundertakingarigorousappreciationofthestructuresandpoeticsofhisco-authoredworks,thisbookpresentsthemasdistinctiveworksofartthattransformourunderstandingofShakespearethepoet,dramatist,andenduringculturalicon.
