Background
1. What is the Shakespeare authorship problem
Some people across the world don’t believe that Shakespeare was
the writer of all his plays and poems. So are they really Shakespeare’s plays?
This question has been asked by many people since the 1780s. The first person
to ask was Reverend James Wilmot. The Reverend was suspicious about the topic
and spent four years trying to link Shakespeare to his credited works.
2. What literary, cultural, and political figures doubt that
Shakespeare was the sole author of the work?
Walt Whitman, Henry James, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Mark Twain,
Sigmund Freud, Orson Welles, John Gielgud, Mark Rylance, Michael York, Kenneth
Branagh, Derek Jacobi, and Keanu Reeves all doubt that Shakespeare actually
wrote these plays. All of these people supported
3. Make a chronological history of the doubts that surround
the authorship of the Shakespearean canon
1728 - Publication of Captain Goulding's Essay Against Too Much
Reading in which he comments on the background Shakespeare would require
for his historical plays and suggests that Shakespeare probably had to keep
"one of those chuckle-pated Historians for his particular Associate...or
he might have starvd upon his History." Goulding tells us that he had this
from "one of his (Shakespeare's) intimate Acquaintance."
1769 - Publication of The Life and Adventures of Common Sense,
an anonymous allegory which describes a profligate Shakespeare casting
"his Eye upon a common place Book, in which was contained, an Infinite
Variety of Modes and Forms, to express all the different Sentiments of the
human Mind, together with Rules for their Combinations and Connections upon
every Subject or Occasion that might Occur in Dramatic Writing..."
1956 - George Elliot Sweet's Shakespeare the Mystery
presents the case for Queen Elizabeth as author.
1957 - present Incorporation of the Shakespeare Oxford
Society. From its inception (originally as the Shakespeare Fellowship in the
l930s) a stream of publications in the form of books, newsletters, and journals
advanced the evidence for Edward de Vere's authorship of the Shakespeare canon.
1994The new technology of the Internet provides electronic
forums and electronic publishing for the Shakespeare Oxford Society to reach
increasing numbers of people, especially students, around the world.
1995A Shakespeare Oxford Society Home Page and a new electronic
magazine (The Ever Reader) are started on the World Wide Web, bringing
the authorship resources and news of the debate to a global audience. Teachers
at both the high school and college level increasingly have class assignments
on the authorship debate and use the Internet as a primary resource for
up-to-date information.
1997The Edward de Vere Studies Conference is founded by Dr.
Daniel L. Wright (Head, Department of English) at Concordia University
(Portland, Oregon).
4. Now do the same for the doubts surrounding the
Stratfordian attribution.
- In 1564 – 1616, there is no reference that during Shakespeare of
Stratford’s life that says the author of Shakespearean works came from
Stratford, or that says the Stratford man being the author.
- In William Camden’s Remaines, he praised the author
“Shakespeare”, but, in his Annals, in the 1616, he didn’t write anything
about the Stratford man’s death; also, in the list of Stratford Worthies
of 1605, Camden leaves out the Stratford man’s name.
- The documents of the time of Shakespeare, don’t mention an
acquaintance with the inner court circles.
- There are no documents that report that William Shakspere of
Stratford had access to the knowledge that is written in Shakespeare’s plays.
5. Consider the logic/illogic of each position and evaluate the
effectiveness of each argument?
On the whole Shakespeare argument, I think its kind of ridiculous
because all the odds point to him. If he didn’t write it, who did it? I mean
think about it, wouldn’t you want to get all the credit for your works, so I
think that Shakespeare wrote it himself. I mean people have been studying this
for years, and they still call it Shakespeare, not Marlowe. Even though each
person can pursue an average argue for their person, my group believes that
Shakespeare wrote his own work.
6. Make a list of the six contenders for the authorship question.
Then add to each as much significant evidence that is presented.
1. William Stanley
2. Christopher Marlowe
3. Francis Bacon
4. Earl of Derby
5. Ben Johnson
6. Thomas Middleton
WHO WROTE SHAKESPEARE?
Use the Internet information linked below to answer these
questions specifically related to WHO WROTE SHAKESPEARE?:
1. Find other candidates not already discovered in the background section and
list why they should be considered as contenders.
William Stanley=
Earl of Derby=
Ben Johnson=
All of these people could have written
Shakespeare but none have given enough evidence to prove their argument.
Thomas Middleton=
Sir Walter Raleigh=
Queen Elizabeth I herself=
2. What is the controversy that surrounds Shakespeare's bust and its
inscription as it applies to Sir Francis Bacon?
It is believed that bacon could have written Shakespeare because his writing
style closely resembles the work of Shakespeare.
3. What did Mark Twain have to say about the debate issue?
Mark twain believes that Bacon was the actual writer. He wrote it on a
series of facts, not all the way through but far enough.
4. Why should the Marlowe spy theory be reviewed?
Because it says that Marlow later became Shakespeare and if this were to be
proven then the whole controversy would be over.
5. How has technology, most notably the computer, made its presence known in
this controversy?
The computers have made it possible to spread the ideas that
Shakespeare did not write his works. They can be used to prove or disprove any
argument.
6. What type of logic/illogic is used to support these
claims?
Logic support is that the works of some others resemble very
closely the works of supposedly “Shakespeare”. Illogical support would be
saying Shakespeare did not write his works, because there is not enough support
for any other person to have written them.
MARLOWE WROTE SHAKESPEARE
Use the Internet information linked below to answer these
questions specifically related to MARLOWE WROTE SHAKESPEARE:
1. What association to Shakespeare is presented by the Marlowe Society that
leads one to believe that Christopher Marlowe's death is associated with
Shakespeare's writings?
Some people argue that Marlowe wrote Shakespears writing. They
think that it is possible because Marlowe and Shakespeare were very close to
the same age, parted by only two months. Some argue that Marlowe faked his
death, and wrote. People also argue that Marlowe wrote hidden secrets in his
paper, showing them that he wrote them. Also, another fact, which I found kind
of weird myself came from one of Shakespeare’s poems. In it, there are many
lines that point to Chris Marlowe. People say that this line from one of
Shakespear’s Sonnets is pointing to a part in Marlowe’s lifetime. “That fell
arrest with out all bail.” Also, in one poem, Shakespeare mentioned Marlowe’s
death weapon, a wrench’s knife.
2. What role did the British government play in Marlowe's death?
Some people think that the British government was involved in
Marlowe’s death because the house he was killed in was a safe house for
government agents. - At a time when Queen Elizabeth and her Privy Council were
cracking down on disobedient subjects, Marlowe gave offence; and the Queen, in
turn, made him pay. He was then murdered in a brawl.
3. Was Marlowe really a heretic?
Marlowe was atheist, which means he didn’t believe in God, but it
carried the same offense. His friend, also a playrwight called him an atheist,
Thomas Kyd.
4. What similarities exist between Marlowe's writing and Shakespeare's
writing? (consider style and structure)
Marlowe was the first to start writing in blank verse. He also
wrote some black comedy plays, and some can argue that Shakespeare stole his
idea and wrote a play on it. Also, the Mendenhall system, which was based upon
a regular word-length that all writers usually display, but Marlowe’s and
Shakespeare’s were almost identical.
5. What type of logic/illogic is used to support these
claims?
Marlowe's supporters point to irregularities in the coroner's
inquest, and they suppose that Marlowe did not really die in that year but
lived on to write the works of "Shakespeare.”
The Marloe Society- http://www.marlowe-society.org/
http://www.intrepidsoftware.com/fallacy/toc.php