Betraying and Lying in Othello by William Shakespeare

There are several people who are believed to be the “real William Shakespeare” including Sir Francis Bacon, the Earl of Oxford, the Earl of Essex, Christopher Marlowe and Queen Elizabeth I herself (Mabillard). This is mainly due to the fact that during the time of Shakespeare these were highly educated and popular people. Also, there are some theories which state that Shakespeare is really just an out-of-town actor who took the credit for countless works done by other authors and playwrights (did Shakespeare actually write all his plays), and there is a record of him acting in front of Queen Elizabeth in 1594 (Chandy). The main reason that these people believed to be the “real” Shakespeare, is Shakespeare lacks the background, education, and breeding in order to write such great plays and poems.

     One may readily perceive the theme of Shakespeare’s “Othello” as deception. Deception appears many times in Othello, but in almost every incident the degree of deception is different. Deception is to “deceive another, illusion, or fraud” (Webster’s New World Pocket Dictionary 69), which is seen as a wrongful act. However, deception may be used to protect someone from getting hurt therefore being used with good intentions.

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.

To start from the beginning of the controversy, the earliest actual documentation of such findings began in 1785 by an oxford scholar named James Wilmot. It was here that when James came up “empty-handed” of any evidence of Shakespeare’s plays did he come to the conclusion that it had to have been someone else and that someone was Sir Francis Bacon. James however never reported anything and on his deathbed actually destroyed his writings, but not before telling a fellow scholar, James Corton Cowell, his findings. Cowell would leave and make a presentation to the Ipswich Philosophic Society, and so began the greatest mystery of whether William Shakespeare was a famous playwright or a fraud taking credit for the work of someone else.

While William Shakespeare’s name is written on many famous plays such as Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream and more, did he actually write the plays? The truth is, that there is no solid proof that William Shakespeare was a writer at all, except for his signature scrawled on the manuscripts. Over the years, many people and organizations have claimed that other people have written the plays, such as, Christopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon, William Stanley, Edward De Vere and even Queen Elizabeth I. All of these people were good writers, and there is a possibility that one of them wrote Shakespeare, but why would somebody write under a pen name? The answer is, they would not, unless they were hiding something. The only person

In Shakespeare’s Othello, betrayal serves as a major theme. While the antagonist, Iago, presents the most prominent betrayals, there are many other overshadowed acts of betrayal.

Fisher, Jerilyn, and Ellen S. Silber. "Reading Between the Lines: Connecting with Gertrude and Ophelia in William Shakespeare's Hamlet." Women in Literature: Reading through the Lens of

Yes William Shakespeare really did write his own plays and poems. In all of his plays and poems the name “William Shakespeare” appears. William Shakespeare was an actor for company which performed the plays of William Shakespeare. He was also known as a famous and well written writer.In some of the poems such as “Venus and Adonis” was published by Stratford Native Richard Field which was also dedicated to the Earl of Southampton signed by “William Shakespeare”. “Shakespeareauthorship.com” believes that the work of a noblemen “addressing”that Shakespeare did write the plays is even more evidence. For example some people made of conspiracy that were made up. Some say that Shakespeare was dead and said that for the next seven years someone else

Shakespeare is possibly one of the best known author ever. He has written many works that were rewritten to conform to modern times, and many that are so good that they could not be changed. He has also sparked one of the largest debates in history: did he actually write the works that he supposedly wrote? Or was it a pen name for someone else, the true author? In this debate, I have taken the opposing side, I believe that Shakespeare did not write his works like we have been led to believe our entire lives.

Shakespeare was a playwright from Stratford upon Avon who had arguably the most significant influence on English literature and language. His works are still acclaimed to this day for their divine superiority, although debate has risen over the authenticity of his authorship. According to Dobson, reasons for doubting that William Shakespeare was in fact the author of his works include theories that he lacked the education, aristocratic awareness, or familiarity with the royal court that is said to be apparent in the works (Dobson, 2001, p.31). Many books have been published questioning if the renowned playwright is the author of his many plays and poems.

Shakespeare was a very influential person in the Renaissance when it comes to literature. When it comes to art and inventing, there are many great inventors and artists, but “The distinctiveness of [Shakespeare’s] comedies [they] assisted in the growth of the Renaissance era and the rebirth of literature and entertainment during this era.” (Amber). In the Renaissance Shakespeare introduced many new ways to write and speak by introducing and creating many different words into our dictionary. If Shakespeare hadn’t been a

William Shakespeare is perhaps one of the most well-known writers of his day, as well as today, but people have questioned his authorship. Born on April 23, 1564, Shakespeare both grew up and was thought to have attended school in Stratford. He was one of the most famous playwrights of his time, producing a variety of works over his short life span. Years later, after making a career and name for himself, he died in April of 1616. Despite the fact that Shakespeare was and is still known for being such a great playwright, many people doubt or question the legitimacy of his authorship. Some people even question if he really existed. However, the question of Shakespeare’s authorship provides us with evidence and the suspicion of multiple candidates who may have had the potential to be the actual author(s) of his works.

While most people agree that Shakespeare did, in fact, write the plays many around the world know of today, there are a few scholars and writers who believe that Shakespeare was not the true author of the plays. This belief stirs what is known today as the Shakespeare authorship question. While this belief has many reasons for its existence, the main reasons have to do with the fact that there is little documentation about the life of William Shakespeare. Lack of documentation about things such as his education and travels led to theories being developed that others had written Shakespeare’s plays, rather than Shakespeare himself. These theories have developed into what is known today as the question of Shakespeare’s authorship, which is even beginning to be taught in schools around the nation. While the question of Shakespeare’s authorship has argued for many years that Shakespeare was not the author of the plays, there is extensive evidence that proves that he was, in fact, the author of this own plays. He did, however, have some help from other playwrights of the time.

Who is the real Shakespeare? There are those who insist that William Shakespeare is the author of the many works attributed to him and reports state that there are those who believe some type of conspiracy exists to protect the real name of the author of those works. Claims state that there is no evidence to document William Shakespeare of Stratford as the author and that he did not have the aristocratic background, education, or knowledge to have written such content as is found in the works of Shakespeare. It is reported that the evidence that does exist to document his life are inclusive of such as "mundane personal details such as vital records of his baptism, marriage and death, tax records, lawsuits to recover debts and real estate transactions." (Nicoll, 2010)

According to many scholars, William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, spent time in London, and returned to Stratford until 1616 when he met his death. In his life documentation, there are records of things such as his marriage to Anne Hathway and his children’s birth. However, there contains no evidence that he composed the 37 plays and 154 sonnets attributed to him, which according to history it is the greatest body of work of the English language. The absence of this proof of authorship makes many people skeptical, wondering how a man from such humble beginnings and education come by such wealth of insight, high knowledge of life in the English court, and understanding of legal and political matters. There are about thousands of books and articles whereby people have proposed their candidates to be the true author of the Shakespeare canon (Bruster 23). Some of these candidates include Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe, and Edward de Vere , the 17th Earl of Oxford, who is the most favored candidate of the three (Betteridge and Gregory 14). In the