Shakespeare authorship question

The Shakespeare authorship question is the argument that someone other than William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon wrote the works attributed to him. Shakespeare’s authorship was first questioned in the middle of the 19th century. The controversy has since spawned a vast body of literature, and more than 80 authorship candidates have been proposed.

About Shakespeare authorship question in brief

The Shakespeare authorship question is the argument that someone other than William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon wrote the works attributed to him. Shakespeare’s authorship was first questioned in the middle of the 19th century, when adulation of Shakespeare as the greatest writer of all time had become widespread. The controversy has since spawned a vast body of literature, and more than 80 authorship candidates have been proposed. Supporters of alternative candidates argue that theirs is the more plausible author, and that William Shakespeare lacked the education, aristocratic sensibility, or familiarity with the royal court that they say is apparent in the works. Some prominent public figures, including Walt Whitman, Mark Twain, Helen Keller, Henry James, Sigmund Freud, John Paul Stevens, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Charlie Chaplin, have found the arguments against Shakespeare’s authorship persuasive, and their endorsements are an important element in many anti-Stratfordian arguments. At the core of the argument is the nature of acceptable evidence used to attribute works to their authors. In contrast, academic Shakespeare historians rely mainly on direct documentary evidence, such as title page attributions and government records. Little is known of Shakespeare’s personal life and some anti-stratfordians take this to mean that he was not the author of any of his plays or plays. Gaps in the record are explained by the low survival rate for documents of this period. Scholars say all these converge to confirm the authorship of William Shakespeare’s works. These criteria are the same as those used to credit other authors and are accepted as the standard methodology for authorship attribution for other works of his era.

No such direct evidence exists for any other candidate, and Shakespeare’sAuthorship was not questioned during his lifetime or for centuries after his death. In addition, no document attests that he received an education or owned any books. No personal letters or literary manuscripts certainly written by Shakespeare of. Stratford survive. To sceptics, these gaps in therecord suggest the profile of a person who differs markedly from the playwright and poet. The arguments presented by anti- stratfordists share several characteristics. They attempt to disqualify William Shakespeare as an author and usually offer supporting arguments for a substitute candidate. They often postulate some type of conspiracy that protected the author’s true identity, which they say explains why no documentary evidence exists. They say that no one but a highly educated individual or court insider could have written it. They work for acknowledgment of the authorships question as a legitimate field of scholarly inquiry and for acceptance of one or another of the various authorship candidate. The most popular being Sir Francis Bacon; Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford; Christopher Marlowe; and William Stanley, 6th Ear of Derby. They say the convergence of documentaryevidence used to support Shakespeare’s Authorship is the same used for all other authorial attributions of his Era. The arguments are similar to those used for other poets and historians, and official records.

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