The Questioning of Shakespeare’s Authorship

The Questioning of Shakespeare’s Authorship

        For hundreds of years, doubts have been recorded about whether or not William Shakespeare actually wrote the works attributed to him.  The questioning of Shakespeare’s authorship is known to have went back as early as the real attempt to discover facts about William Shakspere of Stratford (“Bethwell”)  The author of Shakespeare was thought to have been a tradesman from provincial Warwickshire, who was baptized Gulielmus Shakspere.  Gulielmus Shakspere was never known to have gone to school a day in his life; however, after not writing anything before in his entire life he began to publish some of the most erudite works of literature in his late twenties.  Many people began to question his authorship.  A man with no education at all, who has never owned as much as a single book nor wrote anything as simple as a letter composed to the works of Shakespeare is claiming to be the author of such dramatic arts (“Price”).  Samuel Johnson discovered information about Shakespeare in Warwickshire, which later concluded that the William Shakspere from Stratford was not the right man after all (“Bethwell”).  It then became clear that Shakspere was not from Warwickshire because there was no evidence of any kind of literary career (“Price”).  

        By the nineteenth century Samuel Johnson’s opinion began to spread and the problem, which remains today, is that what is actually known about Shakspere makes it very unlikely that he ever wrote anything; this later lead to the thought that Shakespeare was to be from Stratford-Upon-Avon (“Bethwell”).  The man from Stratford-Upon-Avon was then thought to have carried the name William Shakespeare (“Price”).  The man from Stratford-upon-Avon had later become questioned on whether or not he was the true author of Shakespeare.  The man who supposedly brought the Renaissance to England was originally a butcher, who later turned into the poet and playwright Will Shakspere of Stratford-Upon-Avon (“Price”).  Ralph Waldo Emerson found facts bout Will Shakspere’s life; his will lacked the reference to the literary remains and some petty lawsuits even after half of his plays were unpublished (“Bethwell”).  

        Whoever wrote the works of Shakespeare was seen to be someone whose own social background education, travel experience, and range of knowledge (“Rubinstien”).  J. Thomas Looney wrote a book in 1920 identifying Edward de Vere the 17th Earl of Oxford as Shakespeare (“Bethwell”).  Edward de Vere the 17th Earl of Oxford was born in 1550 (“Seletsky”).  He was a highly educated, well-traveled aristocrat that had royal connections (“Maria”).  He attended school at Queen’s College Cambridge and studied laws at Gray’s Inn (“Seletsky”).  Edward was born into aristocracy and eventually achieved office under Elizabeth as well as high office under James I.  Edward de Vere was thought to be the secret Shakespeare (“Jarvis”).  He also had many or even all other deathless lines known today as Shakespeare and for some time he presented one of the most interesting yet challenging cases to the hidden Shakespeare.  Edward’s case was put together by the “Oxfordians” with great power, depth and persuasiveness (“Jarvis”).  Edward de Vere was a very intelligent poet and playwright who were a favorite of the Queen as well as her ward and the son-in-law of her chief minister of state (“Price”).  Edward de Vere claimed to have mastered the majority of the accomplishments in the knowledge and understanding, innate and gained from experience, where Shakespeare’s works display (“Jarvis”).  The authorship was said to be hidden because high-born types of the era were not allowed to mess about in the rowdy theaters during the rise of the art-fearing Puritans (“Maria”).  He was nurtured in arts of poetry and stagecraft from his youth, unlike the butcher from Stratford (“Price”).  He and his father, Earl of Oxford, John de Vere, were the patrons of the England’s earliest acting companies that performed under aristocratic patronage (“Price”).  He also received a host of literary dedications that distinguished him as preeminent among the writers of the Elizabethan Age (“Price”).  However, Edward de Vere died in 1604, whereas Shakespeare’s plays had continued to appear until 1613 (“Rubinstien”).  

        Francis Bacon too had a case put together by the “Oxfordians”.  There have been several different incidents, references, coincidence and parallels discovered by scholars under research which led a rather strong connection to Oxford and Shakespeare (“Jarvis”).  Francis was born in 1561; his father, Sir Nicholas Bacon, held the title of Lord Keeper of the Seal (“Seletsky”).  Francis attended Trinity College Cambridge at the age of 12.  He was a renowned lawyer and philosopher who lived thirteen years after Shakespeare’s last plays appeared.  He was also an ambassador and ten a member of the House of Commons (“Seletsky”).  Francis loved being in the Centre of intrigue and scheming and planning (“Jarvis”).  By age 31 Francis was well traveled and very matured (“Jarvis”).  His goals were broader and deeper than normal.  He then was thought to be the only person smart enough to have written Shakespeare (“Jarvis”). He died in 1626 making him the only person investigated to have lived throughout Shakespeare’s entire lifetime.  However after discovering that his elephantine style was nothing like Shakespeare’s.  

        Sir Henry Neville was a lesser-known Elizabethan landowner, Member of Parliament, and briefly Ambassador to France was also believed to have written Shakespeare.  Sir Henry Neville was an enormously erudite mane who was educated at Merton College, Oxford and spent four years traveling around Europe with his mentor (“Rubinstein”).  Sir Henry Neville became involved in the Essex Rebellion in 1601. He later began meeting with the Essex Rebellion and agreed to join the conspirators several days before Shakespeare’s Richard II was mysteriously performed at the order of Essex and his allies (“Rubinstein”).  Sir Henry Neville’s role in the Rebellion was exposed by the Essex at his trail and later confirmed at the trial Lord Southampton, a friend of Neville, Shakespeare’s supposed patron; because of this Neville was sentenced to death (“Rubinstein”).  While in prison Sir Henry Neville and other prisoners were allowed some leeway in what they could do, which including allowing them to write.  It is believed that during the time Sir Henry Neville was incarcerated he wrote many of the Shakespeare Sonnets, including those in which the poet speaks of his “disgrace,” “stain,” “brand” and so on, as well as those addressed to an intimate friend whom he, the poet, forgives for having wronged him (“Rubinstein”).  The Sonnets published in 1609 was believed to have been dedicated to Lord Southampton.  Though the name Thomas Thorpe’s name appears on the Dedication, it is believed to have been written by Sir Henry Neville (“Rubinstein”).  Sir Henry Neville’s great trauma of imprisonment in the Tower from the years 1601 to 1603 was the reason for the fundamental shift in the writings of Shakespeare, from the comedies and histories to the great tragedies and the “problem plays” shift that has been identified by the virtually of all his biographers yet never explained (“Rubinstein”).  

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