New Shakespeare play may have been discovered

Looks like the Bard might have written more than his already prolific canon of plays. A Shakespeare scholar from the University of Nottingham is fairly certain of the confirmation a new play was written by Shakespeare. According this article from the AP via Yahoo! News:

After years of literary investigation, a professor at the University of Nottingham said Tuesday he’s certain “Double Falsehood, or the Distressed Lovers” was born out of “Cardenio,” a play Shakespeare scholars believe existed…”There is definitely Shakespearean DNA,” said English literature professor Brean Hammond, who has worked since 2002 to determine if “Double Falsehood” has Shakespearean roots.

As the article mentions, there is not enough proof with 100% certainty that “Double Falsehood” is based off of this mysterious “Cardenio” play.

However, there is more evidence for the existence of another Shakespeare play than just speculation about Shakespearean DNA found in another drama:

There is strong evidence “Cardenio” existed: records showed the actors in Shakespeare’s company were paid for acting in it. And Hammond said Theobald claimed he had used three of the Bard’s manuscripts when he wrote “Double Falsehood,” which opened to positive reviews in London’s West End.

As someone who enjoys Shakespeare (although I’m no scholar), it’s fascinating to think that there could be one more play to add to his folio.

Of course, there’s also the age-old controversy about whether or not Shakespeare wrote anything at all, or if his plays were written by someone else. I’m not going to get into this debate on this post because I’ve written about it here The verdict is in: Shakespeare is a fraud and Was Shakespeare a fraud?.

The possibility of another Shakespeare play is just another fascinating chapter in the ongoing research of the most famous writer in the English-speaking world.

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• Was Shakespeare a fraud?
• No Fear Shakespeare makes me very afraid
• Happy Birthday Shakespeare!
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