Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
william shakespeare authorship debate
william shakespeare authorship debate
william shakespeare authorship debate
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: william shakespeare authorship debate
Shakespeare Did Write His Plays How could such a marvelous person like Shakespeare be called a fraud, how could that make any sense? Many people known about Shakespeare and how well known he was in writing his famous plays. There is evidence to show whether or not that Shakespeare even wrote the plays. However based on theories, there are many reasons why only Shakespeare could write the plays that he supposable did not write. Consequently, some conserves say that the Earl of Oxford would be more suited for making the plays that Shakespeare wrote. According to Joe Nickels “In 1987 a moot-court debate on the Oxford-Versus-Shakespeare controversy was held at the American University. It was presided by three U.S. Supreme Court Justices… Stevens pointedly concluded the ‘the Oxdordian case suffers from not having a single, coherent theory of the case’ (qtd. In Bethell 1991, 47)” (Nickells sec 4). This means that the Supreme Court Justices did not support the theory of the Oxdordian, and would not support the theory that the Earl of Oxford could make Shakespeare’s plays. This helps to understand why the Earl of Oxford could not have made Shakespeare’s outstanding play. With all the evidence that is presented there would be no doubt that only Shakespeare could write the plays. In addition to Joe Nickells, Alexa Stevenson quotes “The most popular answer of the anti-Stratford theories are that the plays attributed to Shakespeare were written by the Earl of Oxford … Oxford died in 1604, and significant evidence indicates that some of Shakespeare’s work was produced years later” (Stevenson para 5). This explains why Earl of Oxford could not write Shakespeare’s plays, because he was dead when more were written. This shows conserves that Oxfo... ... middle of paper ... ..._shakespeare_much_ado_about_nothing/>. History.com Staff. "William Shakespeare." History.com A&E Television Networks, 2011. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. . Nickell, Joe. “Did Shakespeare write “Shakespeare”? Much Ado About Nothing”. –CSL N.p. n.d Wed. 28 Apr. 2014 http://www.csicop.org/si/show/did_shakespeare_write_shakespeare_much_ado_about_nothing/>. Stevenson, Alexa. “Probing Question: Did Shakespeare Really Write All Those Plays?” News. N.p. 1 Dec. 2008. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. . Wheeler, Kip L. “Did Shakespeare Really Write Shakespeare?” Http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/shake_did_Write_plays.html. N.p. 14 Mar. 2014. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. .
William Shakespeare is widely regarded as on the of the best playwrights and poets to have ever existed. “It is a widely speculated topic that William Shakespeare did not write the poems and that up to about 50 other poets could have writen them.”("Shakespeare facts: Read," 2011) “William Shakespeare is the second most quoted writer in the english language.” ("Shakespeare facts: Read," 2011) It is widely speculated that the true Shakespeare is actually Edward De Vere. I firmlybelieve Shakespeare was not the true playwright because of his lack of education, lack of upper class etiquette, and the different penmanship over time.
It is often a subject of debate amongst literary scholars and to this day it is a great mystery to the world. This question has many possible answers. Among the most likely are Edward de Vere, Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe, and, of course, William Shakespeare. There are a few other mentioned possibilities, but there is so little evidence for them that they do not appear worthy of mention. Each of the proposed authors have different traits and their own pieces of evidence suggesting that they are the true authors of Shakespeare, but only one theory can be true, or can they? Is it possible that there is more than one author of Shakespeare's work? These lead to the biggest question, however. Who really wrote the famous works of Shakespeare?
Scholar Diana Price in her article, "Shakespeare's Authorship and Questions of Evidence" takes an independent, serious and thought provoking role in investigating the answer to a question of over 400 years: Was Shakespeare of Stratford really responsible for writing all those stories and sonnets?
William Shakespeare’s intellectual use of the English language is what brought him prosperity throughout his lifetime, and what brings us to tears and laughter in the modern world. The life of Shakespeare is of great importance to English literature because of his many contributions including poetry, stories, and plays. However, many people do not know that he also owned a business. “William Shakespeare was a professional actor, a businessman, and a playwright. Today, nearly four hundred years after his death his plays are still performed” (Greenhill and Wignall 4).
In another attempt to find evidence to confirm or deny that Shakespeare authored his plays, who else could have written the plays must be considered. To illustrate, Steven Dutch writes, “Bacon Fra...
There seems to be a great discussion on whether or not Shakespeare is the true author of the plays associated with his name. The internet seems to be full of essays, discussion boards and book reviews all dealing with this particular topic and most of the people submitting them are very forceful and definitive about their positions. In just a few hours of searching I found well over a thousand pages dealing with the original source of the works of art assigned to Shakespeare's name. The most disappointing part was that none of the essays I read even suggested the possibility of Shakespeare just "borrowing" information and topics from other playwrights and authors. They were all mainly interested in the man who actually put the words on paper. Not only did this decrease their usefulness for this particular paper but also they made it seem like the person who wrote the plays down on paper had some particular lawful ownership over them. This was not true though.
One of the largest mysteries of current time is the debate over who the author of the plays commonly attributed to William Shakespeare really is. Commonly termed as the “authorship problem,” many skeptics believe that the William Shaksper of Stratford (the spelling of his name originally) could not have been the true composer of the plays he is traditionally attributed with. Although the thought of someone besides Shakespeare composing the plays is not popular with the American and European world, there are excessive theories concerning the truth behind the possibility of the works being authentically his.
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.
In summation, many people believe different theories of who the real William Shakespeare is. Whoever the real William Shakespeare was, whether it was Sir Francis Bacon, Edward da Vere, William Stanley, Christopher Marlowe, Sir Henry Neville, Mary Sidney Herbert, Queen Elizabeth I, or even a whole group of people. They were truly the “Bard of Avon” or the “greatest writer in the English language and the world’s pre-eminent dramatist.”
So to conclude, we can safely agree with most academics that William Shakespeare did exist and that he did indeed write the 37 plays and 154 sonnets credited to him.
The works of Shakespeare are some of the most respected in English literature. They have set the standard for all the great writers who followed. Although these works have been attributed to William Shakespeare of Stratford, they could have been written by anyone. The definite authorship of a work is always uncertain, but these works are particularly contested. There are those who believe someone besides Shakespeare of Stratford wrote the works, while others believe his identity, as a whole, is a conspiracy. Clearly the author of a work is important, but some wonder if knowing the author’s identity is really worth all the fuss. The works of Shakespeare will still reign at the top of English literature no matter who wrote them. Therefore, the question of authorship may not even be relevant.
Bethell, Tom. "Looking for Shakespeare: Two Partisans Explain and Debate the Authorship Question." The Atlantic Monthly 268.4 (Oct. 1991): 43-61. Rpt. in Shakespearean Criticism. Ed. Michelle Lee and Dana Ramel Barnes. Vol. 41. Detroit: Gale Research, 1998. Literature Resource Center. Web. 16 Jan. 2014.
“Oxford Authorship Argument.” Absolute Shakespeare. 2000-2005. The Oxford arguments: Why Shakespeare could not have authored his works. http://absoluteshakespeare.com/trivia/authorship/authorship_oxford_arguments.htm
“William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was and English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s preeminent dramatist” (vodppl.upm.edu 2). He was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, UK, he also passed away in his hometown. “When Shakespeare died in 1616 the event was barely noticed” (Epstein 7). “Shakespeare’s family was initially prosperous but began having financial difficulties in the 1570’s” (Allen 325). “Shakespeare gained his education by attending the local grammar school, King’s New School, where the curriculum stressed a classic education of Greek mythology and roman comedy”(shakespeareinamericancomunites.org 1). He never carried his educational career to a higher level as in a university. “William Shakespeare was not recognized as an actor, poet, and playwright until 1592” (Allen 346).
William Shakespeare’s life has brought much curiosity to many. This is natural as he is considered to be the greatest figure of English Literature. William Shakespeare, in terms of his life and work, is the most written-about author in the history of Western civilization. His works include 38 plays, 154 sonnets, and 2 epic narrative poems, the First of which was published after his death in 1623 by two of Shakespeare's acting companions, John Heminges and Henry Condell. Since then, the works of Shakespeare have been studied, analyzed, and enjoyed as some of the finest work of art in the English language.