Innovative textual analysis confirms University of Leeds researcher’s breakthrough finding on Shakespeare and Marlowe collaboration
Computational textual analysis by a researcher at the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures has established that William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe co-authored the 1596 play Edward III.
The finding, which has been covered by the Guardian, fundamentally reshapes scholarly understanding of the relationship between early modern England's two most celebrated dramatists.
Brett Greatley-Hirsch, Professor of Renaissance Literature and Textual Studies at the University of Leeds’ School of English, conducted the landmark computational research alongside Dr Rory Loughnane of the University of Kent.
“What makes the evidence particularly compelling,” Professor Greatley-Hirsch told the Guardian, “is that we’re not relying on a single verbal parallel or statistical test. Different forms of analysis, looking at different features of the language, appear to repeatedly distinguish Marlowe’s writing from Shakespeare’s within the play.”
Rather than relying on traditional impressionistic reading, the project applied sophisticated digital attribution methods to the anonymously published play, evaluating the distribution of unique linguistic markers, function works, and vocabulary profiles across the text.
In this way Professor Greatley-Hirsch and Dr Loughnane have been able to confirm that Shakespeare served as the primary author while identifying Marlowe’s distinct hand in key sections for the first time.
For instance, the analysis reveals that a speech from the beginning of scene 13, when a darkening of the sky causes fear in the French camp and causes King Jean to say “A sudden darkness hath defaced the sky …”, was written by Shakespeare, while a speech from the final scene of the play was written by Marlowe: “Great servitor to bloody Mars in arms, / The Frenchman’s terror and his country’s fame.”
The finding builds upon previous scholarship that identified Marlowe as a co-author on Shakespeare’s Henry VI plays, offering strong evidence that the two playwrights shared a sustained working partnership in their mid-to-late twenties rather than operating purely as fierce theatrical rivals.
The analysis also follows research last year by Professor Greatley-Hirsch that cast fresh doubt on the origins of one of the most famous insults aimed at William Shakespeare, pointing the finger at a friend of the Bard.
The phrase ‘upstart crow’ has long been seen as the first literary dig at Shakespeare’s rising fame, appearing in Greene’s Groatsworth of Wit, a pamphlet published in 1592 shortly after the death of its purported author, Robert Greene. Yet textual analysis by Greatley-Hirsch, working with Professor Andrew Hadfield at the University of Sussex and Dr Rachel White at Durham University, suggests a different author was behind the notorious attack: Thomas Nashe.
The full study will be published in Shakespeare Quarterly later this year.
