Why is there an authorship controversy?
William Shakespeare. 1564-1616. He was not of an age, but for all time. Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, he was nourished at the Stratford Grammar School, went to London, became a playwright, and attained eternal fame.
But there's one small problem. Almost since his death, people have said maybe it ain't so.
In other words: Shakespeare the playwright and Shakespeare, the actor of Stratford, don't seem to have the same background. (Mark Anderson, Shakespeare by Another Name.)
The greatest poet in English may be a complete unknown.
Or he may be Edward de Vere.
There are seventeen candidates for the position of "Shakespeare"--including Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe, and Queen Elizabeth herself--but Edward de Vere, seventeenth Earl of Oxford, is by far the most likely.
Each of these facts is interesting; no one by itself is a smoking gun.
Chasing Shakespeares is about a man who finds a smoking gun.
Two graduate students together find a letter, purporting to be by one W. Shakespeare of Stratford, saying he didn't write the plays. Posy Gould, daughter of a Hollywood producer, has never met a high concept she didn't like and thinks it would be totally great if Shakespeare didn't write the plays. Joe Roper, a rock-solid Vermonter working his way through grad school, a guy who measures twice before he even thinks of cutting once, knows the letter is a forgery.
“Prove it,” says Posy. “You’ve got a week...”
But there's one small problem. Almost since his death, people have said maybe it ain't so.
- An antiquarian went to visit Stratford looking for books from Shakespeare's library. He couldn't find any. No one ever has found a book owned or used by William Shakespeare of Stratford. But...
- The playwright Shakespeare had a lot of access to books. He uses over 200 English and foreign sources, mostly modern literature (some of which he read in the original) in an era when a thousand books was considered a great library. ("Shakespeare's Library.") The largest library anywhere near Stratford contained 186 books, mostly sermons and joke books.
- The playwright Shakespeare knows specific details about Italy as if he has been there. ("Shakespeare's Travels"; Richard Roe, The Shakespeare Guide to Italy.) William Shakespeare is not known to have left England.
- The playwright Shakespeare has extraordinary knowledge of law, medicine, astronomy, and the military. William Shakespeare may have had a good education at the Stratford grammar school, but is not known to have received any further education.
(That doesn’t make him stupid; it just doesn’t make him educated in the same ways the playwright was educated.) - Shakespeare the playwright and poet makes frequent and educated reference to tennis, bowling, hawking and jousting, sports practiced almost exclusively by the nobility. William Shakespeare came from the middle classes. Again, not stupid; just different experiences.
- Shakespeare's plays contain topical references dating back to the early 1560s. ("Dating Shakespeare's Plays.") But, according to most of his biographers, William Shakespeare of Stratford didn't arrive in London until about 1588.
- Shakespeare the playwright has a casual attitude toward money ("who steals my purse steals trash"). In Shakespeare of Stratford's lifetime, Stratford was in the throes of an enormous financial depression. Like many another survivor of hard times, Shakespeare of Stratford kept tight hold of his money. He lent money at interest and hoarded grain during a famine.
- The Shakespeare plays show intimate knowledge of the court, far greater than that shown by, for example, Thomas Churchyard and Anthony Munday, who had approximately the same experience of the court as did William Shakespeare of Stratford.
- After 1603 Shakespeare apparently stops reading and stops publishing. ("When Did Shakespeare Die?")
In other words: Shakespeare the playwright and Shakespeare, the actor of Stratford, don't seem to have the same background. (Mark Anderson, Shakespeare by Another Name.)
The greatest poet in English may be a complete unknown.
Or he may be Edward de Vere.
There are seventeen candidates for the position of "Shakespeare"--including Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe, and Queen Elizabeth herself--but Edward de Vere, seventeenth Earl of Oxford, is by far the most likely.
- Fourteen years older than William Shakespeare, Oxford came to London and joined William Cecil's household in 1562.
- He was one of Elizabeth's favorites, spent money wildly in his youth, was three-time jousting champion of England, studied widely, went to Italy, and by his late twenties was praised as a poet and playwright--but vilified as a sensualist and a spy.
- Details of his turbulent life are directly echoed in some of Shakespeare's plays and in the Sonnets. (All's Well that Ends Well echoes his life around 1582. Hamlet echoes events he was directly involved with in 1572.)
- He acted in plays at Court and intermittently, throughout his life, supported playwrights and companies of players. His father had also had a company of players; his daughter was one of the few allowed female actors in England.
- By the time that the greatest Shakespeare plays were being written, he had retired from the court and was living a half hour's ride from the Globe.
- Oxford's daughter knew Jaggard, the publisher of Shakespeare's First Folio. Her husband is one of the dedicatees.
Each of these facts is interesting; no one by itself is a smoking gun.
Chasing Shakespeares is about a man who finds a smoking gun.
Two graduate students together find a letter, purporting to be by one W. Shakespeare of Stratford, saying he didn't write the plays. Posy Gould, daughter of a Hollywood producer, has never met a high concept she didn't like and thinks it would be totally great if Shakespeare didn't write the plays. Joe Roper, a rock-solid Vermonter working his way through grad school, a guy who measures twice before he even thinks of cutting once, knows the letter is a forgery.
“Prove it,” says Posy. “You’ve got a week...”