Hitherto the study of Shakespeare's literary sources has
mainly sought to establish their identity rather than to evaluate
his use of them—not least for the comedies up to and including
TwQilAfo The present source-study, however, is critically
oriented. It attempts a systematic comparison of the texts of
these comedies with their sources, wherever there exists a reason¬
able measure of agreement as to their identity, in the hope of
providing a firmer basis for critical interpretation proper
