SOURCE: "Shakespeare and Lyly," in Shakespeare Survey: An Annual Survey of Shakespearian Study and Production, Vol. 14, 1961, pp. 15-24.

In the essay below, Mincoff analyzes Lyly's depiction of love and courtship in his plays and assesses their influence on the comedies of Shakespeare.

Shakespeare's debt to Lyly has never been denied, and it might well seem that any attempt to resurvey the subject could be no more than the gleaning of an already well-harvested field. Yet in fact much more than the gleaning of a few stray ears of corn has been left for those who would apply themselves to the task of making a fresh study of the relationship between these two authors. In particular, it may be said at once that, in the earlier investigations of the theme, there has been a definite tendency to concentrate rather on concrete parallels than on fundamental principles, and thus to...