ABSTRACT
Complexity theory is a way of seeing the world that is flourishing in a variety of disciplines in the sciences and the arts. This chapter presents some characteristics of complex systems that provide the foundation of complexity theory's key concepts. They are also evident in the patterns of letters in Shakespeare's plays. Brent Davis and Dennis Sumara chart the development of complexity theory as a discipline through three temporal phases: Complexity 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0. While the use of complexity theory in Shakespeare studies is novel, a complex understanding of Shakespeare as system is not. In fact, the explicit and formal development of complexity theory in the sciences is analogous to similar implicit developments in the humanities. In other words, Shakespeare studies are already familiar with complexivist ways of thinking. The implicit awareness of Shakespeare as a complex system provides a useful foundation on which to build an explicit complexivist examination of the specific interactions and subsystems at work therein.
