Doubt of Shakespeare's Authorship of His Plays
Over the years, various persons have expressed doubt as to the authorship of William Shakespeare. These doubts are as old as his plays.
American author, Henry James once said, "I am haunted by the conviction that the divine William is the biggest and the most successful fraud ever practiced on a patient world. (Hoffman 27) On the other hand, author Calvin Hoffman was convinced that Shakespeare was "the author of the most magnificent English dramatic prose and poetry ever written. (Hoffman 27) But, he reiterated this belief nineteen years later, stating, "They are magnificent! Only, William
Shakespeare of Stratford-on- Avon never wrote the plays and poems." (Hoffman 27)
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Perhaps Shakespeare's plays are too scholarly to have been written by a man without a degree, but that, some believe can be explained by the fact that the plays looked learned to people of later generations who did not use classical allusion as a part of their common speech. Others believe that the depth of learning in the plays seems impossible for a man of Shakespeare's position, but when the overwhelming power of the plays is considered, the learning in them seems trivial. Little is known of Shakespeare today. But, this lack of information about Shakespeare's life can be attributed to the fact that his era was not one of biography, casual letter writing , or journalism. What was said about Shakespeare was unwritten.
Stratfordians, or those who believe that Shakespeare did indeed write the works attributed to him, began with a preconceived idea that he wrote the plays, and then they tried to make facts and circumstances fit their case, some say . To account for innumeralbe instances where Shakespeare exhibited such wide knowledge, Stratfordians say that Shakespeare pumped anyone he could for information. However, others feel that pumping friends for local color could help with broad knowledge, but really could not enable him to convey the atmosphere of a country or to add small, rather insignificant details which could only come from the pen of a
Shakespeare was a writer of many plays like Romeo and Juliet, or Hamlet but, some people believe that he did not write his plays. In some of the sources they would explain that shakespeare couldn't have wrote the plays. The others sources say otherwise, they say that he could easily imagine how it would be like to be rich and their for him being able to write the plays. From all the evidence that the sources gave, Shakespeare did not or could not write his plays because he was not educated well enough to be able to write the plays with such sophisticated language another reason that Shakespeare was not the writer there's not enough evidence such as copies of the plays.
William Shakespeare was a very famous writer from the 15th century who had very popular poetry, but did he wrote his own plays? There is reason to believe that William Shakespeare did not write his own plays. He came from an all illiterate family, he had no record of his schooling, and when he died, he will had nothing to do with poetry or any writing. William Shakespeare did not write his own plays.
But the fact remains that his name, whether he wrote the plays or not, is credited as the author so in some way shape or form he wrote the plays.
Shakespeare, the man who wrote 37 plays and more than a hundred sonnets, is known throughout the world. Many people consider him one of the best English playwrights of our time, others say that he was a genius.
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.
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
To be or not to be, is a famous question Shakespeare asked his audience in the Hamlet over 200 years ago, yet people are still asking “To be or not to be Shakespeare? That is the real question.” They are like the foolish man believing he is the wise man, going around teaching a false doctrine. They believe that their favorite candidate for Shakespeare is, and always will be Shakespeare. No matter how obvious that there is no way he was ever Shakespeare. Shakespeare is the real Shakespeare because we have no proof for someone else, why wouldn’t they claim it and two of the four head candidates were dead. Shakespeare is Shakespeare.
Shakespeare was a playwright from Stratford who had arguably the most influential affect on English literature and the English language. His works are still praised to this day for their divine superiority, however, controversy in exceeding amounts has risen over the dispute of his authorship. This controversy has been the topic of many arguments between differently opinionated scholars who support opposing theories and beliefs (Friedman XV). "A difficult dilemma confronts biographers who tell the story of the glove maker's son from Stratford-on-Avon who is supposed to have become the world's greatest poet and dramatist" (Whalen 3). It may seem odd that this confusion and doubt had come to light in the first place, as the origin of
For this project, I believe that I am an anti-stratfordian. There is no possible way that Shakespeare could have written all of his works in such minimal time. Going into this project, I expect to form a more educated and informed opinion on this matter. I would like to acknowledge both sides of the argument and pick a side. Before I started researching for this project, I had no idea where to start. Frankly, I didn’t even realize how controversial the Shakespeare’s authorship question really was. I wasn’t sure which websites were true or which ones simply wanted you to believe their side, no matter what false information they presented to you. However, by the end of my research, I am hoping to find four reliable and informative websites
Within the day and age William Shakespeare grew up in, a commoner such as Shakespeare would be near or completely illiterate. There is almost a one hundred percent possibility of someone from his background being unable to even read or write, let alone write plays that have been carved into our culture. Also, the topics and subjects William Shakespeare wrote on would not be possible for someone such as him to know. William Shakespeare described other countries and different languages. Shakespeare would have to know of such things to be able to write on them.
William Shakespeare was a very talented man known for his various works of literature. His works include poems, plays, and sonnets. His works are then broken down into tragedies, comedies, and histories. Shakespeare left this world centuries ago, but his writings continue to live throughout the world today. He has greatly impacted the world of literature and his existence will forever be remembered.
The most controversial and subjective argument stems from the apparent wealth of knowledge possessed by the Shakespearean author. Throughout the plays and sonnets, he makes numerous classical allusions. Oxfordians claim that the Shakespeare from Stratford (usually referred to as Shakspere in the debates) could not have possessed the necessary knowledge to draw upon these sources. Tom Bethell, another noted Oxfordian, writes that “Shakspere is not known to have attended Stratford grammar school … [and] if he was a pupil, he probably was not one for long” (Bethell). However, respected Stratfordian Irvin Matus argues that no records of anyone attending the school exist before the 1800’s (Matus). He also notes that Ben Jonson, a contemporary of Shakespeare’s and a revered playwright, did not have “much more than a few years of rudimentary schooling” and that there are no attendance records for Jonson’s school before 1715 (Matus). On his comprehensive Stratfordian website, David Kathman asserts that “Shakespeare’s classical knowledge, while impressive by our standards, was
What do Naomi Campbell, Sarah Palin, Beyonce, Lil Kim, Diddy, Drake and George Takai have in common? They all had ghost writers. Ghost writers have been used for centuries, and it’s a very efficient way to get things done. This is one theory for Shakespeare, that he had many ghost writers and didn’t actually write everything. Another is Queen Elizabeth wrote it. Another famous theory is Francis Bacon. The list is very long. The question whether Shakespeare wrote his plays has been on most people’s mind for centuries. Did he actually write them? Did she write them? Did they write them?
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,
Though William Shakespeare is recognized as one of literature's greatest influences, very little is actually known about him. What we do know about his life comes from registrar records, court records, wills, marriage certificates and his tombstone. Anecdotes and criticisms by his rivals also speak of the famous playwright and suggest that he was indeed a playwright, poet and an actor.