Cardenio
Quick Summary
Cardenio is a lost play attributed to William Shakespeare and John Fletcher. It was likely written around 1613 and was performed by the King's Men acting company. The play's plot is believed to be based on the character Cardenio from Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quixote, which had been translated into English in 1612.123
While Cardenio itself is lost, a later adaptation titled Double Falsehood was presented in 1727 by Lewis Theobald, who claimed it was based on Shakespeare and Fletcher's original work. The exact extent of each playwright's contribution to Cardenio remains a subject of scholarly debate. Collaborative writing was common during the Renaissance, and Shakespeare is known to have collaborated on other plays, such as The Two Noble Kinsmen with Fletcher.241
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William ShakespeareShakespeare’s literary debtsOf Shakespeare’s late works, Cardenio (now lost) was probably based on incidents involving the character Cardenio in Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote. Since that great work had been translated into English in 1612 by Thomas Shelton, it was available to Shakespeare and John Fletcher when they evidently collaborated as…
Read MoreOf Shakespeare’s late works, Cardenio (now lost) was probably based on incidents involving the character Cardenio in Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote. Since that great work had been translated into English in 1612 by Thomas Shelton, it was available to Shakespeare and John Fletcher when they evidently collaborated as…
Read More- William ShakespearePublication
…may have contributed, or the Cardenio that Shakespeare appears to have written with John Fletcher and that may have provided the basis for Lewis Theobald’s Double Falsehood in 1727. It did nonetheless include 36 plays, half of them appearing in print for the first time.
Read More…may have contributed, or the Cardenio that Shakespeare appears to have written with John Fletcher and that may have provided the basis for Lewis Theobald’s Double Falsehood in 1727. It did nonetheless include 36 plays, half of them appearing in print for the first time.
Read More - William ShakespeareCollaborations and spurious attributions
…well have written the now-lost Cardenio in 1613, of which Double Falsehood, 1727, purports to be a later adaptation.) The story, taken out of Chaucer’s Knight’s Tale, is essentially another romance, in which two young gallants compete for the hand of Emilia and in which deities preside over the choice.…
Read More…well have written the now-lost Cardenio in 1613, of which Double Falsehood, 1727, purports to be a later adaptation.) The story, taken out of Chaucer’s Knight’s Tale, is essentially another romance, in which two young gallants compete for the hand of Emilia and in which deities preside over the choice.…
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