A poet and a playwright, William Shakespeare won a worldwide reputation as capturing human emotions and conflict. His famous plays include Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and King Lear. Despite his great works, some critics questioned the authorship of Shakespeare. In the Renaissance period in England, many authors used pseudonyms because the publication of poetry and drama existed as one of the taboos. Considering this, many books and articles were written claiming that someone other than William Shakespeare wrote the plays and poems. By mentioning the names of intelligent poets in Shakespeare’s time, people debated and came up with theories. Among all those possibilities, the most popular theories include three candidates: Edward de Vere, …show more content…
However, while Spedding committed his time to write the biography of Bacon, Miss Bacon spent all her lifetime on suggesting Francis Bacon as a true author of Shakespeare. Francis Bacon was a British’s most intelligent philosopher and writer. According to Miss Bacon, the philosophical ideas in Bacon’s writings shared similarities with the works of Shakespeare. For example, in Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare, he used same interpretation of the philosophy of Aristotle with Bacon. Even though it was slight different from what Aristotle actually said, the same expression on common philosophy added more possibility in the theory. Another example is in Bacon’s notebook, Promus, which proverbs, metaphors, and aphorisms were hand written by Bacon. The supporters of Baconian Theory found several parallelisms between phrases in Shakespeare plays and aphorisms in Promus. In 1883, Henry Pott again observed Promus and revealed that thousands of thought and expression between Bacon and Shakespeare were matching (Edmondson, 2013, 26). In 1626, the year when Francis Bacon died, his private chaplain William Rawley released a collection of eulogies by writers and scholars (Shapiro, 2010, p.92). This work revealed Bacon as a concealed poet. Also, writers used unique descriptions and symbolic analogies referring to Bacon in the eulogies which only used in the works of Shakespeare and were carved on the Stratford
Michael R. Katz, Ph.D. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. Shakespeare, William. The.
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...
Spurgeon, Caroline. Shakespeare's Imagery And What It Tells Us. London : Cambridge University Press, 1965.
Shakespeare, William, Stephen Greenblatt, Walter Cohen, Jean E. Howard, Katharine Eisaman Maus, and Andrew Gurr. The Norton Shakespeare. Second ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 1997. Print.
Mabillard, Amanda. "Shakespeare in Print." Shakespeare Online. N.p. 20 Aug. 2004. Web. Web. 25th of April
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.
There was a raging debate that Shakespeare’s play were not written by him. Some claim that Shakespeare was not educated enough to write his plays and they must have been written by someone else. That someone else is thought to be Francis Bacon. Since no original manuscripts of Shakespeare have ever been found, the theory goes that Francis Bacon has buried them on Oak Island to be found in the
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.
Although William Shakespeare is considered to be one of the most revered and well-renowned authors of all time, controversy surrounds the belief that he actually produced his own literary works. Some rumors even go so far as to question the reality of such a one, William Shakespeare, brought on by paralleling the quality of his pieces with his personal background and education. With such farfetched allegations, it persuaded others to peek into the person we all are taught to learn as “Shakespeare”, but who is actually the person behind these genius works of literary promise and enlightenment? To some, Shakespeare is as much accredited to his works as frequently as you see his name placed. To others, Shakespeare is a complex enigma into which we the people are supposed to unravel; the true author behind a falsely-given pseudonym. The debate pertaining to the true authorship of William Shakespeare’s works are still questioned in today’s society.
Lectures and Notes on Shakespeare and Other English Poets. London : George Bell and Sons, 1904. p. 342-368. http://ds.dial.pipex.com/thomas_larque/ham1-col.htm.
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.
Looney, J. Thomas. "Shakespeare" Identified in Edward De Vere, the Seventeenth Earl of Oxford. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1920. Print.
Whitman, Walt. "In Re Shakespeare: The Authorship of Shakespeare on Trial." Preface. In Re Shakespeare: The Authorship of Shakespeare on Trial. By David Lloyd Kreeger. Vol. 37:609. N.p.: n.p., 1988. 610. Print. The American University Law Review.
The Review of English Studies, January 1945, 21(81): 52-56. Print. The. Shakespeare, William. The.
Shakespeare got much recognition in his own time, but in the 17th century, poets and authors began to consider him as the supreme dramatist and poet of all times of the English language. In fact, even today, no one can match his works or perform as well as he did. No other plays have been performed as many times as Shakespeare’s. Several critics of theatre try to focus on the language of Shakespeare and to take out excerpts from the literary text and make it their own resulting in various persons, poets, authors, psychoanalysts, psychologists and philosophers.