Title:

Shakespeare Discoveries II: A Secular Tour of "The Tempest"

Description:

Shakespeare Discoveries II concerns itself with the first play in the 1623 Catalogue of the Shakespeare works, The Tempest. It includes a complete transcription of that text, meticulous down to the minutiae of the printers' letter spacing. Textual analysis is given throughout at appropriate points, differentiated typographically from the text of the play.

One discovery concerns the dating of the play. Since the earliest days of Shakespeare scholarship, The Tempest has almost invariably been regarded as one of the last of the Shakespeare Comedies. The evidence here shows that it should be placed first and that the Comedies and Tragedies in the Catalogue are printed in the order of their composition and first performance. Textual analysis suggests that The Tempest was conceived and scripted by Edward de Vere for the wedding of Ferdinando Stanley and Alice Spencer in 1579.

Another discovery concerns the meaning of the word Bermoothes, which traditionally has been linked by scholars to the Bermuda islands to justify their late dating. Correcting that dating to 1579 rules out Bermudas as the meaning of Bermoothes because England had scant knowledge of the Bermudas until decades later. The cognate of Bermoothes is analyzed as a foreign word - the German Wermut, plural Wermutes, French Vermouth, plural Vermouthes, Spanish Vermut, plural Vermutes, meaning wormwood, the herb associated with absinthe and vermouth.

In addition, the book discusses the input of the actors who first created roles in The Tempest and identifies Richard Tarleton as the actor who first portrayed Ariel. The young William Shaksper, who was 15 at the time of the first performance, is tentatively identified as the first actor to play Caliban. Certain scenes in the play are shown to be largely created by actors using improvisation.