I  propose  to  examine  five  domestic  tragedies,
beginning  with  the  earliest  and  ending  with  the  latest.^
These  are  '  Arden  of  Feversham,'  '  A  Warning  for
Fair  Women,'  '  A  Yorkshire  Tragedy,' '  The  Witch  of
Edmonton,'  and  '  A  Woman  Killed  with  Kindness.'
The  first  two  were  published  anonymously,  but  have
been  ascribed  upon  internal  evidence  by  no  mean
judges  to  Shakspere.  Edward  Jacob,  in  his  reprint  of
'Arden '  in  1770,  was  the  first  to  suggest  that  the  play
was  Shakspere's.  Tieck,  who  translated  it  in  1823,
adopted  this  view,  and  Goethe  is  said  to  have  sup-
ported it.  Mr.  Swinburne  in  his  recent  'Study  of
Shakespeare '  pleads  eloquently  in  favour  of  the  Shak-
sperian  authorship.  Yet  there  is  absolutely  no  external
evidence  to  rest  upon  ;  and  so  far  as  internal  evidence
from  style  must  be  considered,  neither  the  diction,
though  vigorous,  nor  the  versification,  though  far  from
despicable,  can  be  closely  paralleled  with  Shakspere's  in
his  youth  or  prime.  The  most  substantial  ground  on
which  we  might  assign  this  play  to  Shakspere,  is  the
dramatic  skill,  the  tragic  force,  displayed  in  it.  Was
there  any  other  playwright  capable  of  producing  work
so  masterly  before  the  date   of  1592  .?     We   may  at

1  By  earliest  and  latest,  I  mean  in  date  of  publication,  which  is,
however,  no  exact  guide  to  date  of  composition.  Arden  of  Feversham,
for  instance,  has  all  the  signs  of  more  mature  workmanship  than
A  Warning.
AUTHORSHIP   OF  ' ARDEN:  419

once  eliminate  Marlowe,  whose  marked  style  nowhere
shows  itself  in  scene,  soliloquy,  or  dialogue.  Greene,
Peele,  and  all  their  school,  are  out  of  question.
