In line with his approach to Dante as an experimentalist, but also as a reviser, a reshaper of early formulations, Hollander concludes: "The prose of the Vita nuova supplies meanings for some of the earlier poems themselves; the prose of the Convivio does so still in more striking manner; Convivio and De vulgari Eloquentia approach the question of language from apparently different or even contradictory positions; the Comedy frequently engages its precursors in the continuing process of growth and self-definition" (74).
Some of the most informative and authoritative criticism in this study relates to Shakespeare's practical skills as a remaker and reshaper of dramatic materials.