William Shakespeare is widely regarded as on the of the best playwrights and poets to have ever existed. “It is a widely speculated topic that William Shakespeare did not write the poems and that up to about 50 other poets could have writen them.”("Shakespeare facts: Read," 2011) “William Shakespeare is the second most quoted writer in the english language.” ("Shakespeare facts: Read," 2011) It is widely speculated that the true Shakespeare is actually Edward De Vere. I firmlybelieve Shakespeare was not the true playwright because of his lack of education, lack of upper class etiquette, and the different penmanship over time. It is thought that since everyone in Shakespeare’s family was uneducated that he also would not have had proper schooling and would be uneducated. If shakespeare was uneducated he could not have written 198 pieces of work ranging from sonnets, poems, and plays. With a vocabulary of over 13,000 words used overall in all of his pieces of work combined, if he was uneducated it is completely impossible for him to have written all of the plays, poems, and sonnets. ...
As a child, he was specifically schooled in Latin and grammer. This gives him the background he needs to be the author of his plays. Third, he collaborated with other writers which would explain how he got so much done is such little time. He wrote a total of 37 plays and was provenly assisted in 11 (Shakespeareauthorship).
In 1564, a man was born by the name of William Shakespeare. He was born to a poor family, was given little education, and had no interaction with sophisticated society. Thirty-eight plays and over 150 sonnets are not attributed to this ignorant man. Those who believe that Shakespeare was the author have no definitive proof but instead point to Hamlet’s declaration: "The play’s the thing(Satchell 71)." The true author, however, lies hidden behind he name of Shakespeare. Edward de Vere the premier Earl of Oxford is not only considered a great poet in history, but he may also be the great playwright who concocted the sonnets and plays which are now attributed to William Shakespeare of Stratford, England.
“William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was and English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s preeminent dramatist” (vodppl.upm.edu 2). He was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, UK, he also passed away in his hometown. “When Shakespeare died in 1616 the event was barely noticed” (Epstein 7). “Shakespeare’s family was initially prosperous but began having financial difficulties in the 1570’s” (Allen 325). “Shakespeare gained his education by attending the local grammar school, King’s New School, where the curriculum stressed a classic education of Greek mythology and roman comedy”(shakespeareinamericancomunites.org 1). He never carried his educational career to a higher level as in a university. “William Shakespeare was not recognized as an actor, poet, and playwright until 1592” (Allen 346).
One of the largest mysteries of current time is the debate over who the author of the plays commonly attributed to William Shakespeare really is. Commonly termed as the “authorship problem,” many skeptics believe that the William Shaksper of Stratford (the spelling of his name originally) could not have been the true composer of the plays he is traditionally attributed with. Although the thought of someone besides Shakespeare composing the plays is not popular with the American and European world, there are excessive theories concerning the truth behind the possibility of the works being authentically his.
“I am firm against Shakespeare — I mean the Avon man, the actor.” (Whitman) The true author of the works attributed to Shakespeare have been in question since the late eighteenth century and really garnered attention until the early twentieth century, when famous authors such as George Bernard Shaw, Walt Whitman, and Ralph Waldo Emerson declared their opinions on the question. The most popular candidates for authentic authorship, besides William Shakespeare himself, are Edward DeVere, Francis Bacon, Queen Elizabeth I, and Christopher Marlowe. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, writing was not considered a noble profession; therefore, authors would use either an alias or hire someone to allow them to take their name, which in this case it was Christopher Marlowe who took up Shakespeare’s name. Marlowe is the most credible of the contenders to be the true author because of his style of writing, and his education compared to that which is known of William Shakespeare.
It is often a subject of debate amongst literary scholars and to this day it is a great mystery to the world. This question has many possible answers. Among the most likely are Edward de Vere, Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe, and, of course, William Shakespeare. There are a few other mentioned possibilities, but there is so little evidence for them that they do not appear worthy of mention. Each of the proposed authors have different traits and their own pieces of evidence suggesting that they are the true authors of Shakespeare, but only one theory can be true, or can they? Is it possible that there is more than one author of Shakespeare's work? These lead to the biggest question, however. Who really wrote the famous works of Shakespeare?
In summation, many people believe different theories of who the real William Shakespeare is. Whoever the real William Shakespeare was, whether it was Sir Francis Bacon, Edward da Vere, William Stanley, Christopher Marlowe, Sir Henry Neville, Mary Sidney Herbert, Queen Elizabeth I, or even a whole group of people. They were truly the “Bard of Avon” or the “greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist.”
This was very hard to do (Levi 148). When Shakespeare was known, he had almost no competition so he was able to not write as much and still be successful (Levi 144).
In the article ‘Why Shakespeare is Still Relevant’, Joseph Pearce demonstrates how even though he is over 400 years old, Shakespeare is still pertinent in today’s society and furthering of education. Students should continue to study Shakespeare in classrooms today; ultimately, creating an overall increase in their intelligence and success. An intelligence Shakespeare can expand through the use of the multitude of words he has invented and “since we think with words, we think more clearly if we have more words with which to think”. Through his use of new words, students can communicate and discuss more effectively, creating a higher possibility of learning. In addition to expanding students vocabulary, Shakespeare’s work also delves into the
He wrote 36 play, poems, and sonnets. All of his writings have been translated into 75 types of languages. Shakespeare should not be taught because he is difficult to understand, should be entertained not taught and he does not strike modern teenagers. The first reason, he shouldn’t be taught is because he is difficult to understand.
Many people claim, from the Shakespearean era, that it was enough to have the education that Shakespeare had to be a successful poet but why did Shakespeare have to cheat his way though? The writing in of Shakespeare's works had many phrases from Edward de Vere’s
“No scrap of his own letters or manuscripts has survived, nor have the records of his school years, his theatrical tours or anything he ever said to anyone” (Michell). The big debate about Shakespeare work was how could a man that did not have the proper education to write such in depth and amazing plays. Many people such as Delia Bacon questioned his work because of his education and assumed that he had help from someone with a good education to be able to put such pieces together with that type of syntax. You could not blame anyone for wondering how a man with merely an education could come up with such pieces of grand pieces of work that would be u...
In today’s world the quality of the art form called writing is said to be somewhat diminishing, it is important for English literature to keep some studies of classic literature, such as Shakespeare. I think well rounded education must have a strong foundation in both modern and classical literature, for the foundation in classical literature, an in-depth study of Shakespeare’s works would be more than sufficient. Not only was Shakespeare so skilled in his writing that he has become a significant point in the history of literature, but a majority of his works were written on such basic human themes that they will last for all time and must not be forgotten.
Novelist C. S. Lewis once said, “Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become.” This is entirely true of Shakespeare. William Shakespeare was a playwright, poet, and actor who wrote 38 plays and 154 sonnets in the late 1500’s to early 1600’s. He’s often regarded as the greatest writer in the English language for many reasons.
Some people may think Shakespeare had an amazing education, however that is not true. Shakespeare’s education was cut short due to his parents financial struggle. Since William Shakespeare’s dad was a public official, he was granted no tuition to attend the King’s New School in Stratford. His family didn’t have enough money to send him to school after to further his understanding of his knowledge.