Essay on Shakespeare Authorship Controversy

Throughout the last century, a raging phenomenon known as the “Authorship Debate”, has come to light. It disputes whether Shakespeare himself wrote the plays and sonnets or if it was someone else writing under a pseudonym. There are countless theories of who the writer might actually be but the main suspects are Shakespeare himself, Edward de Vere, Sir Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe, William Stanley, Roger Manners, Sir Walter Raleigh and Mary Sidney Herbert (Pressley).

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

At first I didn’t think it was possible for him to write all of those plays. After I did my research, I learned that playwrights would put other playwrights’ names on their plays so they would sell. This allowed me to see that it wasn’t Shakespeare’s fault that he was claiming these many plays. They also would put his name on it to pay tribute to him. I learned that Shakespeare did indeed, have a respectable education, despite what anti-stratfordians say. The education that Shakespeare received from his grammar school was a big help, but it was his immense amount of reading that mainly contributed to the writing of the plays. Shakespeare really understood everything about how plays worked, whether it be picking the right actors or making small cramped stages work. Even though he was a commoner who wrote about nobles and royalty, he was exposed to them in such a way that he was able to create entire plays based on the upper class lifestyle. But the opposing side thinks Edward de Vere was the true Bard. But since he died in 1604, and Shakespeare’s big plays were produced after Vere’s death, it leads me to believe de Vere is not the true Bard. Lots of famous and respectable people would disagree with me and claim that Shakespeare isn’t the true Bard. However, the majority of potential evidence points towards Shakespeare being the true Bard. There are too many speculations, conspiracies, and opinions for it to be

William Shakespere was a famous playwrite/poet who wrote many famous plays such as Romeo and Juliet, Julius Ceaser, and Hamlet.

William Shakespeare, also known as the Bard, was a poet, play writer, and an actor. Shakespeare’s birthday is unknown. Most people know Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, and Hamlet which Shakespeare wrote. William Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets. Many people believe he did not do this alone, and that the royalty helped him. People consider Shakespeare a Genius.

Basically, Shakespeare couldn’t have written the plays, sonnets, and poems that he claimed he did because he didn't have enough education and he didn't have any personal connections to the royal court. In the text,

Although the amount of factual knowledge available about Shakespeare is surprisingly large for one of his station in life. “Many find it a little disappointing, for it is mostly gleaned from documents of an official character”. Dates of baptisms, marriages, deaths, and burials; wills, conveyances, legal processes. “Payments by the court—these are the dusty details”. There are, however, many contemporary allusions to him as a writer.These add a reasonable amount of flesh and blood to the biographical

Before this paper goes on to talk about the authorship debate of Shakespeare it is necessary to know what Shakespeare’s London was like during the

Have you ever questioned if Shakespeare wrote his own plays. In a world of opinions and speculations, legacies of globally iconic figures can be degraded. For this reason it is not a surprise many have began to question if Shakespeare really wrote thirty seven plays, 154 sonnets, and five long narrative poems. Even though that there is a majority of scholars who respect the authorship of Shakespeare and the many plays and poems he wrote, there is a small minority of literary scholars who question the authorship of his poems. However over time the arguments by the minority of scholars have held many different positions and inconsistencies.

William Shakespeare did write his own work of because he had the education to write such range of work.According to Alexa Stevenson, “..William Shakespeare has superior education, some of it acquired from grammar school in Stratford, but much expanded upon as an adult”( Research Penn State Par.3).This demonstrates that the education he accorded at Stratford grammar school help him later on in his life to writing such marvelous plays and poems.According to Alexa Stevenson ..” research show that even in a pre-library age, Shakespeare had a good deal of access to

William Shakespeare is known as the most famous playwright in history. In the article, “Early Life in Stratford”, found in Britannica online, sources notes that Shakespeare was educated in a modest village grammar school. Although the school was considered elementary, his education was not. He studied the readings and the writings of Greek and Latin philosophers, poets, and essayist. His exposure to higher level vocabulary helped create his writing. These words, phrases and insults are recognizable contributions to our English Language. Shakespeare’s early life and educations truly influenced his future works.

Shakespeare, one of the most influential playwrights of the Elizabethan Era, yet little is known about the man behind the words. In fact, so little is know that a centuries old debate has taken place as to who the true author of the 154 sonnets and 34 plays truly is. Due to lack of a sound evidence, and the inability to narrow down any other personal reasons for which someone would develop the persona of the Bard, the Stratfordian side is distinguishably the correct camp.

William Shakespeare was an English playwright who lived during the Elizabethan era. He is considered one of the greatest writers of the English language and his influence upon the language shapes the way modern English is now used. Much controversy exists around the possibility of Shakespeare not being educated enough to write his own plays although most scholars believe there is not enough evidence to prove otherwise. One of his most famous plays is a tragedy titled Hamlet which was believed to be written between 1599 and 1601. There now exists a newly discovered title page for a version of Hamlet published in 1587 - twelve years before Shakespeare supposedly wrote his own. The existence of such a Hamlet proves that Shakespeare did not write Hamlet himself, but plagiarised it from a lesser-known playwright.

William Shakespeare is a name known throughout the world. He wrote many well known works such as Romeo and