The Argument for Shakespeare Being the Real Author

Ever since the author's background has been questioned, scholars and other people have debated over who wrote the famous plays and sonnets that have the name William Shakespeare signed on them. Many alternative candidates have been presented, such as Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford. However, these people do not have strong or valid arguments to support their theories. Based on biographical evidence, Shakespeare, not Edward de Vere, most likely wrote Shakespearean works. The arguments for other candidates like de Vere are not strong enough to show that Shakespeare did not write Shakespearean works.

The argument for Edward de Vere does sound plausible at first. Many connections have been made to Oxford's life and Hamlet (Bethell). Some of these connections are how Oxford and Hamlet are similar in the sense that “both were scholars, athletes, and poets”. Both have stabbed a supposed spy (one of Burghley's servants and Polonius respectively), both have a friend with similar names (Oxford had a friend named Horace Vere, who is “called Horatio in some documents”, and Hamlet's best friend is Horatio), and both were “captured by pirates en route to England”. Many Oxfordians concludes that these connections are probably not coincidence because of how abundant they are in Hamlet. Oxford also happens to have a very high education. Nowell, one of Oxford's tutors, says, “I clearly see that my work for the Earl of Oxford cannot be much longer required” (qtd. in Green). Oxford was so intelligent that his tutor said he had learned enough, which means he most likely knew enough to be able to write Shakespearean works. Oxford also has a legitimate motive for why he must hide his name by using another. Many people of noble status “have no ...

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...he Earl of Oxford is, and this can be seen using biographical evidence.

Works Cited

Bethell, Tom. "Looking for Shakespeare: Two Partisans Explain and Debate the Authorship Question." The Atlantic Monthly 268.4 (Oct. 1991): 43-61. Rpt. in Shakespearean Criticism. Ed. Michelle Lee and Dana Ramel Barnes. Vol. 41. Detroit: Gale Research, 1998. Literature Resource Center. Web. 16 Jan. 2014.

Edmondson, Paul, and Stanley Wells, eds. Shakespeare Beyond Doubt: Evidence, Argument, Controversy. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, n.d. Print.

Green, Nina. "Oxford's Biography." The Oxford Authorship Site. N.p., 2010. Web. 18 Jan. 2014.

Looney, J. Thomas. "Shakespeare" Identified in Edward De Vere, the Seventeenth Earl of Oxford. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1920. Print.

MrCrea, Scott. The Case for Shakespeare: The End of the Authorship Question. Westport: Praegar, 2005. Print.