This paper demonstrates how the computational analysis of Shakespeare’s plays can map the emotional language used across individual
plays and across the canon more broadly, affording new insights. It explains how we adapted the “sentiment analysis” tool
SentiStrength for use with Early Modern English. Our analyses allow us to test out the long-held critical
hypothesis that Shakespeare’s work moved from a comic to a “problem” and tragic period, and thence to a more optimistic redemptive
mood in his last plays. The paper will also suggest how computational techniques can further understanding of genre, in particular
the relationship between history and tragedy in Shakespeare’s work.
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