 This theory prevailed until 1850, when Samuel Hickson compared the texts of "The Shrew" and "A Shrew", concluding "The Shrew" was the original, and "A Shrew" was derived from it.By comparing seven passages which are similar in both plays, he concluded "the original conception is invariably to be found" in "The Shrew".His explanation was that "A Shrew" was written by Christopher Marlowe, with "The Shrew" as his template.