to be included in the group (canon) of texts that give evidence of having been produced by Shakespeare. The canonicity of a given text, or of all Shakespearean texts taken together, refers to its possessing characteristics which serve as evidence that it/they were composed by William Shakespeare. This definition, by being general, as applied to any nonbiblical literary piece purported to be written by a given author, doesn’t beg the question about whether the work under consideration is or isn’t