What Is Shakespeare Real?

An issue that is hotly debated is whether William Shakespeare is real or not. William Shakespeare’s personal life was always a mystery. Research shows, however, that many people believe Shakespeare is real. Therefore, I believe that William Shakespeare was Christopher Marlowe.

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.

While the ideas of the true identity of Shakespeare have differed over the years in an almost trend-like fashion, a very popular idea has surfaced over the last century. The most prolific debate today is between the Stratfordians, or those who claim Shakespeare to be the true author, and the Oxfordians, those who claim Edward DeVere, Earl of Oxford, to be the true author.

William Shakespeare, by far one of the greatest playwrights of all time, is clouded with controversy. Rumors run rampant that he was nothing more than a non de plume for someone who wished to keep the anonymity of his identity. There have been names such as Edward De Vere the 17th Earl of Oxford, Sir Francis Bacon, even Queen Elizabeth herself was among those thought to be the true writer of the plays and poems.

There are those who associate Shakespeare with elevated social status and feel that Shakespeare is no longer relevant to a broad audience and therefore should not be taught. In addition in a world where composition is diminishing as technology becomes more prominent, they believe that Shakespeare is less important. These ideas are flawed as Shakespeare continues to be relevant intellectually, emotionally and most importantly culturally. Shakespeare should continue to be required reading.

William Shakespeare was a renowned playwright and sonneteer, who’s writing displayed vast knowledge, wisdom, and creativity. Shakespeare wrote a grand total of 37 plays and 154 sonnets, the number alone bringing into question whether or not the Stratford-upon-Avon man could have truly created these works. There are vast volumes of theories regarding the true authorship of Shakespeare’s many works. However, most of these theories are circumstantial and fail to prove that anyone other than Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare.

For years we have had a question that no one quite knows the answer to. Was the so called Shakespeare really and truly the actual author of the 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and 5 poems? There has been a dispute between the Oxfordians, who are supporting Edward de Vere, and there are the Stratfordians, who are supporting Shakespeare. Both sides have a lot of evidence to back their positions, but who really wrote the plays, the sonnets and the poems? Three points that support the Oxfordians include Edward de Vere’s life parallels many of Shakespeare’s writings, Edward de Vere traveled to many of the countries or places that were cited in Shakespeare’s work, and Edward de Vere had the knowledge that a person would need in order to write at the level Shakespeare wrote at.

The name William Shakespeare brings to mind visions of old English literature that is still used to this day. Although there is a controversy that William Shakespeare was not the real author, there are indications found that Edward de Vere was the true author of Shakespeare’s plays. The question is, who is the real author to Shakespeare’s works? I believe Edward de Vere wrote Shakespeare based upon his higher education, and by events that happened in his life which could be tied to Shakespeare’s plays. Many books that were written by William Shakespeare tend to have the words “probably” or “maybe” which gives the illusion that William Shakespeare was a man of false value. I believe that Edward De Vere is the real author to Shakespeare’s works.

Shakespeare’s authorship is being called into question. Reasonings include, multiple indecipherable signatures, the lack of a poet or playwright reputation and missing records. Shakespeare only has six signatures and all can be found on legal documents. Although he is claimed to be a reputable poet, he never had a poet or playwright reputation. There are suspiciously no signatures on any of his works, which creates no record of him being a true author. This evidence leads one to believe he is not an author, but rather a plagiarist. Many authors believe he is still the author with arguments such as the signatures could be a result of different ways to spell the name, or the reputation debate is because he performed in London, but was a businessman

Hechinger, Paul. "Did Shakespeare Really Write His Plays? A Few Theories Examined." BBC America. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2017.

Shakespeare is known for successful plays that students still read and analyze in English classes to this day. If he was alive today, he would still be making a profit off of his work. English classes read many of the famous ones like Romeo and Juliet, Hamlett, and Macbeth. But how did he draw in the crowds of his time and connect them to the play. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the belief of witches and witchcraft in the medieval and renaissance England directly influenced the successfulness of Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

Concluding his argument, he introduced the idea that scripts are like the Renaissance because they only existed to put on a play. Bevington proposes that we do not need to know everything about Shakespeare’s life, nor do we need all his handwriting samples and manuscripts. For example, we don’t even have any manuscripts of plays by some of the other famous playwrights such as Jonson, Marlowe or Webster, so why does Shakespeare seem like the only victim being picked on? Bevington makes a very good point that Oxford, being along the many other claimants to the true author only, make us more curious as to try to find an answer to a problem that may not actually exist. He closes by saying that this case crashes altogether because of the lack of motive and evidence that Shakespeare isn’t the true author by trying to find some other bard to fit this great genius’ profile. I find Bevington’s argument to be very in depth, defensive and vastly persuasive on behalf of the Stratfordian point of view.

In 1592 William Shakespeare resurface into the society, by acting at a local playwright in

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.

One record that affirms his existence is documentation of his birth. "Shakespeare was born on or just before April 23, 1564, in the small but then important Warwickshire town of Stratford."(BIC) This key piece of information proves that Shakespeare was a real human being. One other crucial record is that he "moved to London in 1588 and was well-known as an actor."(BIC). Also, it is recorded that "he had begun to write for the stage by 1592."(BIC). These crucial pieces of evidence are able to prove that he was a living a breathing person involved in