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essay about the impact of shakespeare
shakespeare's life and career
shakespeare's life and career
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In Search of Shakespeare "To be or not to be, that is the question."(Shakespeare) This memorable excerpt from Hamlet is one of the innumerable manifestations expressing Shakespeare's reflective understanding of the human state that has transcended centuries. Shakespeare’s mastery of vocabulary and his capability to articulate the mind's ins and outs with the utmost refinement, complexity, and passion has contributed to his winning of a legacy of genius. Behind his masterpieces however lies a mystifying void of major sources with reference to his personal life and communal involvement in Elizabethan England's literacy culture. This deficiency of documentation raises notion in the minds of many Shakespearean scholars and historians, leading to a subject matter concerning the authorship of the plays. A number of candidates have been accused as the accountable authors: Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, whose well-known experiences at court would have permitted him to use the plays as an expression of the follies and achievements of English Renaissance culture. Also, Christopher Marlowe has had his share of fingers pointed, especially after his mysterious bar brawl that lead to his “untimely death” right before his court case was held. The victory of Shakespeare is his fruitful legendary intellect uttered within the most well-known works of literature; on the other hand, the authorship debate illuminates a calamity for historians, scholars, and actors who wish to advance their observation of the author and his workings beyond the undying words to find out their historical insinuation. Shakespeare became England’s foremost writer practically overnight, when he was merely an unknown actor. He resided in England throughout the peri... ... middle of paper ... ...at are at an inconsistency. Anti-Stratfordians dispute that there are as innumerable as 12 divergent accounts of Shakespeare's misspelling his name, or adding spaces or hyphens in odd places. These signatures not only question Shakespeare's literacy but also rouse uncertainty as to if ever the same man signed each and every one of them. Anti-Stratfordians dispute that the Shakespeare authorship subject matter has a less to do with verifying the illiteracy of William Shakespeare from Stratford-Upon-Avon and more to do with proving that a figure of men could have used Shakespeare's name as a pseudonym. Another disagreement is that one other man used Shakespeare's name, but he couldn't keep in mind how he had spelled it on earlier manuscripts. Conspiracy Theorist argue That the possible anonymous authors are Edward De Vere, Christopher Marlowe, and Sir Francis Bacon.
Whalen, Richard F. “Shakespeare’s biographical problems heat up”. Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter 47.2 (2011): 9t. Academic one file Web. 31 Oct 2013.
Vickers, Brian. 1993. Appropriating Shakespeare: Contemporary Critical Quarrels. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Price believes that perhaps were approaching this problem with the wrong question. Asking whether or not Shakespeare was the author might be framed incorrectly as a result of a false dichotomy set-up by ardent Oxford scholars. Rather, our author believes the more precise question should be asked as, "Was it Shakespeare or was it Oxford?" Price states, "Arguing an alternative case for a candidate who may or may not be the right one is ultimately an exercise in futility, because it does not first require that Shakespeare's literary biography be rejected on the strength of the evidence." It is through this false dichotomy that orthodox scholars are essentially off the hook. These orthodox supporters criticize the differences in the incidental case for the contender, while not exploring the same arguments thrown against the incumbents. This is because the authorship question is never a true way to attain objective.
Vickers, Brian. 1993. Appropriating Shakespeare: Contemporary Critical Quarrels. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
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.
Cohen, Walter, J.E. Howard, K. Eisaman Maus. The Norton Shakespeare. Vol. 2 Stephen Greenblatt, General Editor. New York, London. 2008. ISBN 978-0-393-92991-1
Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets are big contributors to today's literature, but we still don't know the truth about who actually wrote them. There is many conspiracy theories that suggest William Shakespeare didn't actually write his plays, some believe William Stanley, Christopher Marlowe, or Edward de Vere may have have just used William Shakespeare as a pen name. Each theory has good points but they also all have parts that are not possible and don't make sense. What theory is true may never be answered due to the fact that the events happened so many years ago and there isn't much documentation from shakespeare's time.
De Vere’s education, travels and experience with court life all are contributions to the brilliance behind these plays and sonnets. Jumana Farouksy, makes a legitimate point in her article, The Mystery of Shakespeare's Identity. Her point is that this conspiracy will never cease to present itself within the educational and literary world. The mystery behind Shakespeare's writings is no longer a mystery. William Shakespeare does not possess the qualifications to be the genuine author of these renowned plays and sonnets, and De Vere is the prominent candidate. Charles Dickens once said, The life of Shakespeare is a fine mystery and I tremble every day lest something turn up.” Shakespeare’s life still remains unexplainable, but the fact that he is not the true author can be explained. The contrasting childhood upbringing between Shakespeare and de Vere is automatic evidence supporting the anti-stratfordian view. The strong opinions against Shakespeare’s authenticity, taken by historians, professors and writers draws even more attention to Edward de Vere. The anti-stratfordian view stands strong in the fact that Shakespeare is simply an instrument used to hide the true identity of Edward de
Vickers, Brian. Appropriating Shakespeare: Contemporary Critical Quarrels. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. 1993.
Who was the real Shakespeare? The son of a Stratford glovemaker? Or was he a forgotten nobleman, the 17th Earl of Oxford? It is the greatest detective story there ever was. As more clues are being found, more and more people are doubting the fact that he ever wrote all his plays or even existed. The big question people are asking is why the man who told so much about who we are tell us so little about himself? That is one of the many reasons why I think he never existed or even wrote all those plays. How could a ‘nobody’ have thought a man who could barely sign his name was the greatest writer in the English language? In this essay I will tell you about why I don’t think he wrote the plays, why Edward de Vere was the real Shakepeare, and other things like why it’s impotrant to see who the real Skaespeare is.
Vickers, Brian. Appropriating Shakespeare: Contemporary Critical Quarrels. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. 1993.
MrCrea, Scott. The Case for Shakespeare: The End of the Authorship Question. Westport: Praegar, 2005. Print.
Some people believe that they have found the real author. According to this quote, “An English schoolmaster, J. Thomas Looney went looking for Shakespeare, After years of searching through old documents, Looney came up with a man names Edward De Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford , who lived from 1550-1604,” (Austin Para. 8), It is strong evidence. It means that Looney may found the real author who authored the plays. This also shows that William Shakespeare may not be the author at all. According to this quote,” Periods in which Shakespeare wrote typically did not include the authors name at all,” (Khapp Para. 4), it gives us a feeling that we might have some strong evidence. This clearly shows that someone else may have wrote the plays but did not include their name, so William thought he could plagiarize and pretend he wrote them. This also shows that Shakespeare didn’t include his name to prove that he wrote them. William clearly did not write the plays because Looney searched through old documents and found an unknown name in his documents and Shakespeare did not include an authors’ name in his so called plays.
I deemed the work reliable since this was part of yet another well known media franchise, and the author, David Bevington, is a respected professor of English language and literature at Chicago University. Unlike the past two articles I had utilized, this piece was positively written by a stratfordian, as it denounced many theories rebuking William Shakespeare as the sole author of his proclaimed literary works. Bevington began by initially disproving one of the most popular theoretical alternative authors, The Earl Of Oxford. Many Anti-stratfordians claim that he was the true author of the writing, however the author of this third article proves that as false since The Earl died in 1604, before some of the more famous plays were written including Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, and Henry VIII. He continues to abolish the anti-stratfordian claim that Shakespeare’s lack of education disqualifies him, which is ultimately ludicrous since other famous playwrights of the same era, such as John Webster and Thomas Dekker, also did not receive a high education. He went on to revile the claim that Shakespeare's authorship is uncredible due to the lack of handwriting samples and manuscripts. Bevington explained how other playwrights rivaling Shakespeare, including Christopher
Vickers, Brian. 1993. Appropriating Shakespeare: Contemporary Critical Quarrels. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.