SOURCE: "Pericles," in Shakespeare as Collaborator, Barnes & Noble Inc., 1960, pp. 77-97.

In the following essay, Muir surveys the text of Pericles, locating evidence of Shakespeare's authorship in the language, imagery, and thematic qualities of the work.

Whether we accept Mr Philip Edwards' view that the difference between the first two acts of the play and the remainder is due to the differing skill of two reporters, or assume that Shakespeare based his play on the work of another dramatist, making few alterations in the opening acts and completely rewriting the last three, we may agree that the text given in the Quarto is a bad one, and almost certainly reported. But the two theories have different editorial implications. Those who believe that [George] Wilkins' novel [The Painfull Adventures of Pericles, Prince of Tyre] is based on an earlier play which Shakespeare revised should be less ready to accept...