Shakespeare: A Question of Authorship
For centuries scholars have been examining the question whether William Shakespeare wrote all the work that has been credited to him. In his short 52 years of life, he is said to have authored 154 sonnets, two epic poems, and 38 five-act plays. Following the death of Shakespeare, many scholars began researching information that may have proven why Shakespeare could not have been the primary author or the author at all for many of these works. Four theories as to why Shakespeare could not have written all the work that has been credited to him include: his limited education as an individual of common birth; the shear difficulty and near impossibility for one individual to write so many varied pieces, not
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Shakespeare was not born into a wealthy family or a family of superiority; he also did not continue his education at a university. There is no indications of Shakespeare having a mentorship with an older artist, and he did not marry into wealth. Although William Shakespeare was an actor he was not known for starring roles, so all of his talents depended on the success of his writing (“The Life of William Shakespeare.”). At the age of 18, he married a woman named Anne Hathaway and shared three children: Susanna, Hamlet, and Judith; his wife was not part of royal wealth nor any other type of wealth ("The Biography of William …show more content…
Some believe that Queen Elizabeth I, wrote works attributed to Shakespeare because she devoted herself to the study of the classical period and enjoyed theatrics. According to Sir Roger Naunton, Queen Elizabeth translated one of the tragedies of Euripides from Greek to English for her own amusement (Brown). Queen Elizabeth would be a good candidate because she had the best schooling, understand royal court life, and a lot of theater as well as translation. During her time it was unlikely to have a woman writer and Elizabeth actually did write other literary poems found in her possession ("Who Was the Real Author of Shakespeare's
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.
One cannot write thirty-six plays, one hundred and fifty-four sonnets and two long narrative poems if they were ordinary. But unbelievably, William Shakespeare did just that from 1564 – 1616. People have questioning how Shakespeare achieved writing such great pieces of literature, when the behind the scenes story does not add up. There are no records to prove he wrote anything and there is proof someone else did what he took credit for. In my opinion, Macbeth and Titus Andronicus, two of Shakespeare’s plays are strong examples of pieces of literature that was not actually created by Shakespeare. I believe William Shakespeare, the man with
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).
Shakespeare first started school when he was five, nearly was two years earlier than the normal age at the time, potentially giving him an educational advantage (4). His father was both the mayor of Stratford and a farmer (4). His mother was involved with legal matters, frequently serving as a juror and executrix.(4) After Shakespeare dropped out of school, she then continued his education at home. Shakespeare went to a grammar school for seven years. (7) He then dropped out of school to help his family with finances. When he was 18 years old he married Anne Hathaway, the daughter of a farmer. (2). Anne was already pregnant at the time of their wedding, leading many to speculate neither of them had a choice in the marriage (2). Anne did eventually conceive four children with Shakespeare ( 2). Shakespeare’s first recorded work is a love poem believed to have been written for her. In 1597, his daughter Anne passed away at the age of 8 (7).
William Shakespeare had a very different life than I thought. He was born on April 23rd, 1564 in Stratford-upon- Avon, England. His parents were Mary Arden and John Shakespeare, and he was one of eight children. Joan was the eldest and died at the age of two months, Margaret was alive for one year, William lived to be 52, Gilbert was 46 years old, Joan (number 2) lived to be 77 years of age, Anne died at 8, Richard died at 39, and the youngest, Edmund, lived to be 27. When William Shakespeare was just 13 he had to discontinue his education to help his father, who was a glove maker. They weren’t a very rich family and they did struggle at times. When he was going to college, he attended King Edward VI School and married Anne Hathaway in 1588 when he was 18 years old and she was 26. They had three children together, Susanna, Judith, and Hamnet. Susanna was the first born in 1583, and Judith and Hamnet are twins who were born in 1585. Throughout his life, he lived in Stratford-upon-Avon, England
Serious and intense skepticism began in the 19th century when adoration for Shakespeare was at its highest. The most notable taking place about 150 years after his death. This is when questions rose about the authorship of William Shakespeare's plays. Scholars and historians have debated this topic. The real question is: “How could Shakespeare write with such profound skills in English and Writing when he did not finish school?” (Hechinger, “Did Shakespeare Really Write His Plays? A Few Theories Examined.”). Many claim Shakespeare wasn’t intelligent enough to write his plays. His plays contain a deep knowledge of English novels, yet Shakespeare did not have a university education. Whatever the truth may be, it is undeniable that whoever wrote the plays has immense
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.
The most influential writer in all of English literature, William Shakespeare was born in 1564 to a successful middle-class glove maker in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Shakespeare attended grammar school, but his formal education proceeded no further. In 1582 he married an older woman, Anne Hathaway, and had three children with her. Around 1590 he left his family behind and traveled to London to work as an actor and playwright. Public and critical acclaim quickly followed, and Shakespeare eventually became the most popular playwright in England and part-owner of the Globe Theater. His career bridged the reigns of Elizabeth I (ruled 1558–1603) and James I (ruled 1603–1625), and he was a
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.
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.
Also, he could have written during the plague from 1592-1594 where the theatre he worked at was often closed. He is widely considered the best dramatist to ever write. He is famous for many different pieces. He wrote his 38 play in three genres, tragedy, comedy and history. Tragedy can be associated with drama, and the most well known tragedy plays are Hamlet along with Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet. His comedies also include romance, and the most famous in this category are a Midnight Summer's dream and The Tempest. Along with these many outstanding pieces, Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets, and they are all consistent of 4 stanzas. These sonnets are his prefered writing style when it comes to
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
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