William Shakespeare was an English playwright, actor, and poet who is, still to this day, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers of the English language. He has created numerous works that are read from and have influenced many people across the world. Some blogs and articles, however, have been claiming that someone other than William Shakespeare wrote his works. There exist sincere people who believe that Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe, or Edward de Vere, was the author of the famous plays and poems attributed to the name William Shakespeare, yet Shakespearean scholars – professionals whose sole job is to study, teach, and write about Shakespeare – generally find these wild claims to be unsubstantiated. Even with the minute amount …show more content…
They say that Shakespeare’s limited education wouldn’t have allowed him to “have had such an excellent command of English” (Doyle). They also seem to believe that “there is no documentation that William Shakspere of Stratford had access to such information” (“Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship”). Their argument is based largely on the fact that “there remains an enormous amount that we don’t know about William Shakespeare” and therefore he mustn’t be the author (Bryson). Since their claims suggest Shakespeare isn’t the author, they had to come up with another candidate for the position. The most popular views are Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe, and Edward de Vere. Francis Bacon was an educated man of the Scientific Revolution. He is a popular contender because he wrote some works of practical use. They believe that this man was educated, and therefore more capable than Shakespeare. Christopher Marlowe, the second contender, was popularized for two reasons: he was an educated aristocrat, and he wrote in a similar manner to the works attributed to Shakespeare. Similar to Bacon, they deny that a man without a full education could have written such genius. They even stretch that a common man like Shakespeare “would not have had time to write the four-hour ‘Hamlet’” (Jones). The final contender, Edward de Vere, is claimed to be plausible because he was a …show more content…
Until any hard evidence is given, there can be no question that Shakespeare is the only viable author of these works. The abundance of evidence unmistakably points to Shakespeare as the true author, and any sliver of evidence that the opposing side manages to pull out of a hat has no substance. Because these individuals have questions, they have created their own far-fetched theories to answer them. It is understandable that people have questions; historians still have many questions about most of our past. However, we mustn’t allow our uneasiness of the unknown make us ignore the facts. Shakespeare clearly remains the most plausible and logical author of his
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.
Over the past few decades, there's been controversy over whether or not Shakespeare is the real author of his plays. Shakespeare is famously known for his work including, Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar. Throughout his work it is clear to see his originality and his extensive education. Some people may use this against him and say that it is impossible for someone of his status to write so greatly about politics and be able to use such character. Through stylometry, proof of his education, the actors, and the death of one of the alleged authors, it is proven that Shakespeare is, in fact, the real and rightful owner of his work.
Abstract: The debate over the legitimacy of the authorship of Shakespearean works has been disputed for centuries. While many scholars have held beliefs that Shakespeare's works have been written by figures such as Christopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon, William Stanley, and others, the most heated debate today is between William Shakespeare and Edward DeVere, the Earl of Oxford. Each side of this debate has many followers, the Stratfordians, or those who claim Shakespeare to be the true author, and the Oxfordians who believe that true credit should go to DeVere. My paper, far from being a complete analysis of the possibilities of Shakespearean authorship, attempts to summarize and rationalize the arguments of these two groups. It would be impossible to include all arguments and evidence in a paper such as this. Full books have been written on aspects of the debate I will not even mention, or may just barely touch on. Hopefully after reading this paper, however, you will have a little better understanding of the debate of authorship. As I am not in any respect a scholar on the subject I shall not attempt to make a conclusion as to which of these men is the author, but rather to inform and explain the many arguments on both sides of this debate in the hopes that the reader can learn a little more about the ongoing debate and form an opinion of his or her own.
The works of Shakespeare are some of the most respected in English literature. They have set the standard for all the great writers who followed. Although these works have been attributed to William Shakespeare of Stratford, they could have been written by anyone. The definite authorship of a work is always uncertain, but these works are particularly contested. There are those who believe someone besides Shakespeare of Stratford wrote the works, while others believe his identity, as a whole, is a conspiracy. Clearly the author of a work is important, but some wonder if knowing the author’s identity is really worth all the fuss. The works of Shakespeare will still reign at the top of English literature no matter who wrote them. Therefore, the question of authorship may not even be relevant.
There seems to be a great discussion on whether or not Shakespeare is the true author of the plays associated with his name. The internet seems to be full of essays, discussion boards and book reviews all dealing with this particular topic and most of the people submitting them are very forceful and definitive about their positions. In just a few hours of searching I found well over a thousand pages dealing with the original source of the works of art assigned to Shakespeare's name. The most disappointing part was that none of the essays I read even suggested the possibility of Shakespeare just "borrowing" information and topics from other playwrights and authors. They were all mainly interested in the man who actually put the words on paper. Not only did this decrease their usefulness for this particular paper but also they made it seem like the person who wrote the plays down on paper had some particular lawful ownership over them. This was not true though.
In another attempt to find evidence to confirm or deny that Shakespeare authored his plays, who else could have written the plays must be considered. To illustrate, Steven Dutch writes, “Bacon Fra...
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.
Perhaps the reason that Shakespeare’s works have not been attributed to any other man would attest to the fact that scholars are not willing to accept the implications that the man celebrated to be the world’s most ingenious literary figure is not, in fact, who he was thought to be. However, the search for evidence leading to the true author will continue out of the ethical implications that credit must be given to the true author of the world’s greatest literature.
“Oxford Authorship Argument.” Absolute Shakespeare. 2000-2005. The Oxford arguments: Why Shakespeare could not have authored his works. http://absoluteshakespeare.com/trivia/authorship/authorship_oxford_arguments.htm
Edmondson, Paul, and Stanley Wells, eds. Shakespeare Beyond Doubt: Evidence, Argument, Controversy. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, n.d. Print.
Who wrote Shakespeare? For many years students have been studying and learning about Shakespeare, but was is all necessary? Many accuse and claim Shakespeare does not write his own plays, after multiple sources of ‘proof’ is listed, what would you think? William Shakespeare, a literacy genius, but never owned a book or wrote a letter.
Shakespeare, William. “Let me not to the marriage of true minds.” Making Arguments about Literature: A Compact Guide And Anthology. Ed. John Schilb and John Clifford. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2005. 345-346.
Throughout the United States and the entire world people are aware of Shakespeare; however, many people wonder why society wants their citizens to continue to read William Shakespeare’s plays and poems. Shakespeare continues to influence today’s environment and brings people together by speaking of a common author that most people know. All across the world, students must read at least one of Shakespeare’s works; which often develop those children who read his works into better writers. During the Elizabethan Era, William Shakespeare experienced an uneventful childhood and had a basic education; however, his life still seems to be shrouded with mystery and raises the argument that he was not only the most successful, but also the most mysterious playwright, actor, and poet from that time period.
William Shakespeare’s life has brought much curiosity to many. This is natural as he is considered to be the greatest figure of English Literature. William Shakespeare, in terms of his life and work, is the most written-about author in the history of Western civilization. His works include 38 plays, 154 sonnets, and 2 epic narrative poems, the First of which was published after his death in 1623 by two of Shakespeare's acting companions, John Heminges and Henry Condell. Since then, the works of Shakespeare have been studied, analyzed, and enjoyed as some of the finest work of art in the English language.