Why Do We Read Shakespeare?

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).

There are have been many arguments throughout the history of Shakespearean academia regarding the validity of Shakespeare’s authorship to Titus Andronicus, and the critics have not been shy to express their discontent of its seemingly endless violent montage. As Michael Fentiman and Harold Fuller point out of what Dr. Samuel Johnson spoke to in 1765,

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.

Among writers and historians, the lack of historical evidence about the life of William Shakespeare has been the main cause of much controversy. Many people doubt that if he was the author of such shocking and transcendental pieces of literature. As a result, the uncertainty that surrounds the authenticity of his persona has increased. Since his childhood, there is no record of Shakespeare attending primary or even university studies. Compared with many other poets and writers his literary training was scarce and his social position was not very favorable to access some kind of help. Many people tend to argue that a man with such a low academic level would be able to possess the rigorous legal, historical and mathematical knowledge that is

One of the most argued cases in history is whether or not William Shakespeare was the one to write his own plays, or if he had someone else write them for him. There are numerous amounts of arguments agreeing that Shakespeare wrote his plays, and then there are numerous amounts disagreeing with his penmanship of “his” plays. According to some sources, Shakespeare was an impractical choice to write such famous works of art due to his lack of traveling, and his lack of education (Hechinge). These theories come into play when explaining that Shakespeare was, indeed, a fraud.

The large body of work attributed to William Shakespeare shows education, experience, creativity, and wisdom far beyond what many people are willing to accept came from a single author. Due to the scarcity of facts surrounding Shakespeare’s life, speculation arouse about whether or not he actually wrote his works became more common. In the mid-1800s ideas about other authors were brought forward. However, these theories have little sustenance, and it is likely that the entire body of work attributed to Shakespeare in fact belonged to Shakespeare himself.

      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

Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, all these well-known plays have one characteristic in common. They were all well written by William Shakespeare, or were they? Today many scholars doubt the authorship of William Shakespeare. With this doubt, many other problems about William Shakespeare begin to arise. The question of Shakespeare’s authorship initiates controversy about whether or not William Shakespeare wrote the famous works by “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 many centuries, there has been a controversy over whether or not Shakespeare wrote his plays himself or whether another author wrote the works and gave him the credit. Shakespeare (1564-1616) is recorded to have written 37 plays and 154 sonnets, but the authorship of Shakespeare’s work has been disputed. There is valid reason to believe that Francis Bacon is the genuine author behind Shakespeare’s name. Bacon’s similar high status, numerous travels, and the Baconian theory are valuable reasons that give evidence to Bacon possibly being the author.

For almost four hundred years the question of who truly wrote the works attributed to William Shakespeare has been studied meticulously by many scholars and historians. There have been many well qualified contenders, including Sir Francis Bacon. Because of the incredible number of coincidences between “Shakespeare” and Bacon, it is obvious that Bacon wrote Shakespeare.

Shakespeare is one of the most famous dramatist and poet in England. His literature works have been translated into more than 80 languages. He is the England's pride, and the world's treasure because he not only helped to shape the English we use today, introducing up to 300 words and dozens of well-known phrases but also wrote plays that are known around the world for their universal themes and insight into the human condition. However historians don’t know his date of birth, where he was educated or how he spent seven years of his life and even the playwright of his play is a mystery.

Who was Shakespeare? Was he a man from Stratford-Upon-Avon who started with little and became the greatest English author to ever live; or was he a privileged Earl who was a favorite at Queen Elizabeth’s court? That is the great mystery. This particular mystery is difficult to solve because of the lack of documentary evidence. The Elizabethans did not believe in getting everything in writing as people do today. Therefore, the truth may never be known with certainty. However, evidence does exist to support at least two theories about the Shakespearean authorship: one that the man from Stratford wrote the works, the other that Edward de Vere the Earl of Oxford was the author. The question then becomes, which

Many people heard of Shakespeare’s plays, but was he the one who wrote them? Though it was not questioned during his lifetime, since the mid-19th century people have questioned whether he was the actual author. There are reasons both to believe and doubt that Shakespeare was the true author. Today many scholars agree that there is enough evidence to show that Shakespeare truly was the author of the works attributed to him. But this raises a new question, why is Shakespeare’s authorship in question at all?

William Shakespeare is known to be the “greatest English-speaking writer in history” and an England’s national poet, actor, and an extremely successful playwright. During Shakespeare’s acting career in London, he started writing all about “European geography, culture, and diverse personalities (History.com).” Willm Shakspere or William Shakspeare, as written by him, then went on to write plays. His first three plays were all created around or a little before 1592 and captured the core studied categories; tragedy (Titus Andronicus), comedy (The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Comedy of Errors and The Taming of the Shrew), and history (Henry VI trilogy and Richard III). He wrote plays and sonnets for many theater companies, was one of the main playwrights for the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, which was renamed the King’s Men when James I was in charge, and formed the Globe theater in 1599 with other partners. Shakespeare’s unique language, themes, verses, format, characters, and plots makes his writing universal to every culture and time period. Shakespeare is still taught in school nowadays due to its’ educational and transitional purposes. Shakespeare continues to influence modern-day life and I believe will for a long time to come.