Was William Shakespeare an Author?

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Recommended: Sonnet 71 summary and analysis

Was William Shakespeare an Author?

"That every word doth almost tell my name / Showing their birth, and where they did proceed..." Some might say that this quote from Sonnet 76 eloquently expresses the narrator's desire to be heard. This is a normal enough emotion to have. In today's society, people will fight behemently for that right. In Elizabethan times, however, to be heard was not a right at all, but a privilege. The queen, Elizabeth I, had the power to silence any opposition. One could easily see how a verse like the above example could find its inspiration. Some would argue that, with the necessary information, one could just as easily see a darker purpose uncovered, William Shakespeare: Did he exist? There is no doubt of that. Was he responsible for the greatest poetry and prose the English-speaking world has ever known? That, it would appear, is a greater mystery than one would initially think. I intend to search for the answer to the question: Was William Shakespeare responsible for the writings traditionally attributed to him?

When I first became aware of this debate, I was skeptical. Who wouldn't be? A 400-year old conspiracy theory always invokes doubt, especially one of this caliber. The plays and poetry of William Shakespeare are frequently called the greatest writings of the English language. The Guiness Book of World Records, using only his plays and poetry or the word count, lists him as the man with the largest vocabulary. How then can these works be attributed to the son of a glove maker with no formal education? This is the backbone of the debate raging through the literary world today. Stratfordians, the people who hold to the traditional view, have no real answers. Oxfordians, however...

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Haugen, Peter. (1997, April 20). Who wrote Hamlet? [Online] http://www.sacbee.com/leisure/goingout/theater/hamlet.htm.

Kathman,Dave, and Terry Ross. (1997) Shakespeare authorship. [Online] http://www.bepl.net/~tross/ws/will.html

Kelly, Kathleen. (1997, April 25). The bard by any other name. . . [Online] http://www.dailycal.org/archive/04.25.97/feat/shakespeare.html

McFarlan, Donald, ed. (1990, April). Guinness book of world records. New York, NY: Bantam.

Shaking the spear. (1997, February 18) [Online] http://hhs.stcharles.k12.la.us/mypages/devere.htm

Sim, Kevin. (1992, December 22). The Shakespeare mystery. Frontline.

Stevens, John Paul. (1992, April 4). Shakespeare canon of statutory construction. [Online] http://www.shakespeare-olford.com/stevens.htm

William Shakepeare: the complete works. (1998). New York, NY: Dorset Press.

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