The Hand of John Fletcher in Double Falsehood

Summary

In 1728 Lewis Theobald published The Double Falsehood; or, The Distressed Lovers, a play he claimed to be ‘Written Originally by W. Shakespeare; And now Revised and Adapted to the Stage by Mr Theobald . . . Even a cursory reading of the play would seem to discount the possibility that Theobald’s claim has any merit. Yet one or two facts seem to demand we give the claim further attention. The play is based on the story of Cardenio in Don Quixote. Cardenno is the title of a play twice acted by Shakespeare’s company at the court of James I during 1612–13. Among unpublished manuscripts of that company acquired by Humphrey Mosely was one entered to him in the Stationers’ Register in 1653 as ‘The History of Cardenio, by Mr Fletcher & Shakespeare.’ This information did not come to light until long after Theobald’s death; it is unlikely that Theobald knew it; he certainly never made use of it to justify his claims, even in the face of a campaign of ridicule.