ABSTRACT
In Shakespeare as Literary Dramatist, published in 2003, I argued for an alternative to the Shakespeare many have long believed in, so it is perhaps appropriate to invoke that argument as my starting point here. 1 Shakespeare as Literary Dramatist offers an alternative to the beliefs that Shakespeare was indifferent to the publication and afterlife of his plays and that the only form of publication he ever sought for his plays was the stage. It suggests instead that Shakespeare was acutely aware of and cared about his rise to prominence as print-published dramatic author, that Shakespeare and his fellow actors of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men had a policy of having Shakespeare’s plays published, and that Shakespeare anticipated and catered to a readership for his plays.
