On the Date Sources and Design of Shakespeare's The Tempest

<p> This book challenges a longstanding and deeply ingrained belief in Shakespearean studies that <I>The Tempest</I>--long supposed to be Shakespeare's last play--was not written until 1611. In the course of investigating this proposition which has not received the critical inquiry it deserves a number of subsidiary and closely related interpretative puzzles come sharply into focus. These include the play's sources of New World imagery; its festival symbolism and structure; its relationship to William Strachey's <I>True Reportory</I> account of the 1609 Bermuda wreck of the <I>Sea Venture</I> (not published until 1625)--and the tangled history of how and why scholars have for so long misunderstood these matters.</p><p> Publication of some preliminary elements of the authors' arguments in leading Shakespearean journals (starting in 2007) ignited a controversy that became part of the critical history. This book presents the case in full for the first time.</p>