Igor’ V. Peshkov, DSc in Philology, Analyst, Institute of Philology and History of the Russian State University for the Humanities, Miusskaya Square, 6, 125047, Moscow, Russia. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9881-3429 E-mail: ivpeshkov@gmail.com
The problem of the unity of Shakespeare’s works still re-mains not only unresolved, but not even fully posed. Perhaps the reason lies in the fact that Shakespeare influenced the world at different historical times with his various works. However, an intuitive sense of the integrity of the Bard’s work requires some kind of analytical study. First of all, we are talking about the integrity of Shakespeare’s drama. The article suggests several ap-proaches to the problem statement. Firstly, the initial unity of the First Folio should be considered as the starting point. Secondly, it is necessary to evaluate the entire motive-plot complex of dramatic works. Thirdly, try to find their semantic unity. Moreover, it is better to implement the second and third points on the basis of the first point, that is, we consider the main motives in the order of their nomination in the First Folio. Although a purely motivic analysis seems to be clearly insufficient in the hermeneutics of unity, it is also difficult to immediately move on to the plot. There should be another level of analysis between the motive and the plot, that is the concept of a key plot scheme as revealing such relationships of characters that cannot be eliminated when plotting. Based on this scheme and a general analysis of the motives, an attempt is made to approach the unity of the comedy section by inter-preting the names of the plays and the sequence of their location in the section. As a result, in the first approximation, the exceptional originality of Shake-speare’s comedies is revealed in relation to the general trend of the entire European comediography.
Shakespeare; key plot scheme; motive; plot.
25.10.2025
27.11.2025
Peshkov, I.V. “Shakespeare as a Whole: The Second Introduction to the Problem”. Literaturovedcheskii zhurnal, no. 1(71), 2026, pp. 173–193. (In Russ.)
1. Andreev, M.L. Klassicheskaya evropeiskaya komediya: struktura i formy [Classical European Comedy: Structure and Forms]. Moscow, RGGU Publ., 2011, 234 p. (In Russ.)
2. Dvoretskii, I. Kh. Latinsko-russkii slovar’ [Latin-Russian Dictionary]. Moscow, Russkii yazyk Publ., 1976, 1096 p. (In Russ.)
3. Mikeladze, N. Eh. Shekspir i Makiavelli. Tema makkivealizma v shekspirovskoi drame [Shakespeare and Machiavelli. The Theme of Machiveallianism in Shake-spearean Drama]. Moscow, “VK” Publ., 2005, 492 p. (In Russ.)
4. Peshkov, I.V. “Apokrificheskaya sut’ avtorstva” [“The Apocryphal Essence of Authorship” (Book review: Kirwan, P. Shakespeare and the idea of apocrypha: Negotiating the boundaries of the dramatic canon. Cambridge, 2015)]. Novoe lite-raturnoe obozrenie, no. 146, 2017, pp. 343–347. (In Russ.)
5. Peshkov, I.V. “K probleme edinstva dramaticheskikh proizvedenii Shekspira. Printsipy syuzhetostroeniya” [“On the Problem of the Unity of Shakespeare’s Dra-matic Works. Principles of Plot Construction”]. Literaturovedcheskii zhurnal, no. 36, 2015, pp. 62–96. (In Russ.)
6. Peshkov, I.V. “Shekspir i problema sovmestnogo tvorchestva v zolotom veke angliiskoi literatury (Razmyshleniya po povodu novych knig o teatre ehpokhi Shekspira)” [“Shakespeare and the Problem of Co-creation in the Golden Age of English Literature (Reflections on New Books about Shakespearean Theatre)”]. Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, no. 3(157), 2019, pp. 351–362. (In Russ.)
7. Peshkov, I.V. “Shekspir kak teoretik komedii i peripetii klassicheskogo zhanra (Rets. na knigu: Andreev, M.L. Klassicheskaya evropeiskaya komediya: struktura i formy. M., 2011)” [“Shakespeare as a Theorist of Comedy and the Vicissitudes of the Classical Genre (Book review: Andreev, M.L. Classical European comedy: structure and forms. Moscow, 2011)”]. Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, no. 6(130), 2014, pp. 351–359. (In Russ.)
8. Pinskii, L.E. Magistral’nyi syuzhet [The Main Plot]. Moscow, Sovetskii pisatel’ Publ., 1989, 416 p. (In Russ.)
9. Pinskii, L.E. Shekspir: osnovnye nachala dramaturgii [Shakespeare: the Basic Principles of Drama]. Moscow, Khudozhestvennaya literatura Publ., 1971, 603 p. (In Russ.)
10. Propp, V. Ya. Morfologiya skazki [Morphology of Fairy Tales]. Leningrad, Aca-demia Publ., 1928, 152 p. (In Russ.)
11. Freidenberg, O.M. Mif i teatr [Myth and Theater]. Moscow, GITIS Publ., 1988, 132 p. (In Russ.)
12. Yarho, V.N. Menandr: u istokov evropeiskoi komedii [Menander: at the Origins of European Comedy]. Moscow, Labirint Publ., 2004, 445 p. (In Russ.)
13. Appause Facsimile: The First Folio of Shakespeare, 1623. London, New York, Applause Books, 1995, 896 p. (In English)
14. Bate, J. How the Сlassics Made Shakespeare. Princeton, Oxford, Princeton University Press, 2019, XVI, 361 p. (In English)
15. Black, M. “Shakespeare’s Seventeenth Century Editors”. Proceedings of the Ame-rican Philosophical Society, vol. 76, no. 5, 1936, pp. 707–717. (In English)
16. Gregg, W.W. The Shakespeare First Folio: Its Bibliographical and Textual History. New York, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1955, XVI, 496 p. (In English)
17. Kirwan, P. Shakespeare and the idea of apocrypha: Negotiating the boundaries of the dramatic canon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015, XII, 258 p. (In English)
18. Mr. William Shakespeares comedies, histories, & tragedies: Published according to the true originall copies. London: Printed at the charges of W. Iaggard, Ed. Blount, 1623. Available at: https://archive.org/details/mrvvilliamshakes00shak/page/n11/ mode/2up (date of access: 10.09.2025). (In English)
19. The New Oxford Shakespeare: Authorship Companion, Eds. G. Taylor and G. Egan. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2017, 741 р. (In English)
20. Norton Facsimile: The First Folio of Shakespeare. Based on Folios in the Folger Shakespeare Library Collection. The second edition. New York, London, W.W. Norton and Company, 1996, 928 p. (In English)
21. Schleiner, L. “Latinized Greek Drama in Shakespeare’s Writing of Hamlet”.
Shakespeare Quarterly, no. 41, 1990, pp. 29–48. (In English)
22. The Tempest. Orgel St. (ed.) Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1987 (The Oxford Shakespeare), X, 248 p. (In English)
23. West, A.J. The Shakespeare First Folio: The History of the Book. V. II: A new worldwide census of first folios. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2001, 428 р. (In English)