Authors: John M Clum
Publish Date: 1976/09/13
Volume: 236, Issue: 11, Pages: 1239-1239
Abstract
To the Editor— A physician friend presented me with a copy of Dr Andreasens article The Artist as Scientist Psychiatric Diagnosis in Shakespeares Tragedies 2351868 1976 While I have considerable doubt as to the relevance of Dr Andreasens relation of modern psychiatry to Shakespearean psychology I am much more concerned with the carelessness of her scholarship and surprised that such carelessness is acceptable in The JournalFirst what are Dr Andreasens sources for her assertions concerning Elizabethan drama and medicine There are no footnotes and only the skimpiest bibliography I am surprised to read that The Spanish Tragedie was the first Elizabethan play and more surprised yet to learn that this typical melodrama of courtly intrigue with its obligatory mad character is a play about insanity Moreover the only book on Shakespeare or Elizabethan drama cited in the bibliography is a highly controversial work containing a good deal of conjecture
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