Sir Francis Bacon, however, had a higher education and survived long enough to have written the plays. Bacon was a philosopher and a scientist, raised in the English court. His mother being a linguist could have influenced him in the creation of the new words as, well as the possible ciphers, found in Shakespeare’s plays. With a father as Lord Keeper of the Seal and many connections throughout parliament and in foreign courts he would have had the perfect knowledge to write the plays. Bacon also had a history as an essayist and as a philosopher which may have helped him in the creation of the plays. While his noble status would have made it necessary for Bacon to implement21 a pseudonym, in order to protect his social status. It is clear to see that the differences in their lifestyles set Bacon
As stated in Jumana Farousky’s TIME article The Mystery of Shakespeare’s Identity, “…there is, in fact, nothing solid linking Shakespeare with the plays, poems and sonnets attributed to him”. (Farousky, 3) This statement enhances the fact that there is so little evidence of Shakespeare writing the plays. Farousky also stated that there is a gap between Shakespeare’s life and the ones he wrote about, mentioning that even the people around him never spoke of Shakespeare as a playwright, only an actor. (Farousky, 5) If even those around him, the people he worked with, never said he was a playwright, it is difficult to believe that he was, especially if he had become so famous for it. The only way Shakespeare could have had the deep understanding of foreign places and people would have been to have received higher education and traveled a lot, or to have had friends in high places with those experiences. There is no proof that Shakespeare had...
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... raised noble. This would not only make it easy for him to write the plays, but would have given him good reason to write under a false name, seeing as theater was considered low in that time. With the disregard for theater at the time, a pseudonym would have protected his noble status. This is why Sir Francis Bacon is the most reasonable candidate to be the true Shakespeare. From his education and noble status, to his experiences and connections, Bacon was perfectly set up to write the plays.
Works Cited
Robertson, John G. "The Shakespeare-Bacon Theory." Encyclopidea Britannica. 11th ed. 1911. TheatreHistory.com. TheatreHistory.com, 2002. Web. Apr.-May 2014.
Farouky, Jumana. "The Mystery of Shakespeare's Identity." Time. Time Inc., 13 Sept. 2007. Web. 19 May 2014.
Lander, Jesse M. "Shakespeare, William." World Book Student. World Book, 2014. Web. 26 May 2014.
Clark, W.G., and W. Aldis Wirhgt, eds. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Vol 2. USA: Nd. 2 vols.
Clark, W.G. and Aldis Wright, eds. Introduction. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. New York: Nelson Doubleday, Inc., n. d.
Clark, W.G., and W. Aldis Wirhgt, eds. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Vol 2. USA: Nd. 2 vols.
Wadsworth, Frank W. "Shakespeare, William." World Book Online American Edition. Online Edition. Online. Netzero. 26 Mar 2002.
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.
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.
Shakespeare, William. The Norton Shakespeare. Edited Stephen Greenblatt et al. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1997.
It is thought that since everyone in Shakespeare’s family was uneducated that he also would not have had proper schooling and would be uneducated. If shakespeare was uneducated he could not have written 198 pieces of work ranging from sonnets, poems, and plays. With a vocabulary of over 13,000 words used overall in all of his pieces of work combined, if he was uneducated it is completely impossible for him to have written all of the plays, poems, and sonnets.
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
Greenhill, Wendy, and Wignall, Paul. Shakespeare: A Life. Chicago IL: Reed Educational & Professional Publishing, 2000. Print.
Ever since the author's background has been questioned, scholars and other people have debated over who wrote the famous plays and sonnets that have the name William Shakespeare signed on them. Many alternative candidates have been presented, such as Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford. However, these people do not have strong or valid arguments to support their theories. Based on biographical evidence, Shakespeare, not Edward de Vere, most likely wrote Shakespearean works. The arguments for other candidates like de Vere are not strong enough to show that Shakespeare did not write Shakespearean works.
“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).
Shakespeare, William, and Sylvan Barnet. The Complete Signet Classic Shakespeare. General Editor: Sylvan Barnet. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1972. Print.
Shakespeare Studies 11 (1978): 53-76. MLA International Bibliography. Web. The Web. The Web.
Questions rose about the true authorship of Shakespeare's plays 105 years after he died. Literary critics and scholars began to suggest names like Christopher Marlowe, Edward de Vere and Francis Bacon:they were men that had a more known background; as the real authors of the plays. These ideas came from the fact that there isnt a lot of information about Shakespeare's life and due to the death of contemporary primary sources. Records from the Holy Trinity Church and Stratford government show that there was a William Shakespeare but none of them show he was playwright or an actor.