ABSTRACT
The primal impetus reached a temporary peak during the years 1930-31 in a debate between the proponents of Middleton and Tourneur within the pages of The Times Literary Supplement. Somewhat ironically, the progress of the Tourneur-Middleton controversy has been marked time and again by the simultaneous appearance of confident statements wholly opposed to each other and hence mutually contradictory. Thus, for example, in the 1930's both Marco Mincoff and Una Ellis-Fermor conceived the idea of examining the play's imagery in an endeavor to determine, if possible, the interests and identity of its author. Schoenbaum's demonstration of the influence exerted upon the playwright by the concept of Death's Dance helps us to appreciate his work. The chance that deviation from discussion of the authorship of The Revenger's Tragedy may encourage the exploration of some basic critical questions leads us, inevitably, towards a final consideration which goes far beyond the realm of Tourneur or Middleton.
