Shakespeare authorship question

In literature, the Shakespeare authorship question is a centuries-long debate about whether English playwright William Shakespeare—considered the greatest writer in history—wrote the poems and plays attributed to him. The conspiracy theory dates back to the eighteenth century, nearly two hundred years after Shakespeare's death. It stems from a lack of historical records about Shakespeare, who resided at Stratford-upon-Avon. Doubters claim Shakespeare's works reveal a high level of education and worldly experience, which do not seem compatible with his modest origins. Those who believe Shakespeare authored the works in his name are called Stratfordians. Doubters who think another writer or writers penned Shakespeare's works are called Anti-Stratfordians. The most popular alternative candidates who may have written Shakespeare's compositions are Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford; Sir Francis Bacon; and Christopher Marlowe. Another theory posits that a group of authors collaborated on Shakespeare's plays.

Background

William Shakespeare was born at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564. The Elizabethan actor and businessperson is credited with writing over thirty plays and one hundred sonnets before he died in 1616. His most famous works include Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

The Shakespeare authorship question does not dispute the existence of a man named William Shakespeare. The doubters question whether the man from Stratford authored the works in his name or was used as a front for the real author or authors.

Anti-Stratfordians focused on the disconnect between the genius author's dazzling literary works and his lack of education to support their case. Shakespeare is believed to have been educated at the King Edward VI Grammar School at Stratford but did not attend a university. Yet, his works feature an immense vocabulary that suggests higher learning.

Little information exists about Shakespeare's life from 1585 to 1592, called the "lost years." The missing period preceded his first poem, Venus and Adonis, published in 1593. Only six signatures remain in Shakespeare's handwriting; all are nearly illegible and look different from one another. Shakespeare's last name also was spelled numerous ways, including Shaxberd, Shaxpere, Shakespear, and Shake-speare.

The earliest claim against Shakespeare's authorship occurred in 1785. English scholar James Wilmot failed to find any evidence to show that Shakespeare was an author — no manuscripts, papers, or books he owned. More than two hundred years later, no letters in Shakespeare's handwriting or books have been found.

In the mid-nineteenth century, American author Delia Bacon spearheaded the Shakespeare authorship controversy. Bacon was convinced that Shakespeare had not authored his works, and she believed instead that a group of writers had penned them. Her theories attracted the interest of American authors Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Bacon laid out her claims in the 1856 essay "William Shakespeare and His Plays: An Inquiry Concerning Them" in Putnam's Monthly Magazine. A year later, she followed the essay with her book, The Philosophy of the Plays of Shakspere Unfolded. In her writings, Bacon asserted that Shakespeare lacked the education and experience to write the plays and poems credited to him. His compositions convey a keen knowledge of the royal court's workings, geography, and foreign languages, yet Shakespeare never traveled outside the country.

Since Bacon published her theories, thousands of articles and books have been written about the Shakespeare authorship question, and the query lived on into the early twenty-first century.

Overview

Shakespeare scholars largely dismiss the idea that someone else authored Shakespeare's poems and plays. Stratfordians argue that his name appears in more than forty official documents and dozens of literary references during his lifetime. They also point to the First Folio, the complete set of Shakespeare's works published after his death in 1623, as confirmation of the author's identity. The cover identified the contents as "Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories & Tragedies." The title page featured a portrait of a balding man alleged to be Shakespeare. The man had a mustache and a patch of facial hair under the lower lip, and he was shown wearing a starched collar and doublet. The collection includes a forward by playwright Ben Jonson, one of Shakespeare's contemporaries, who identifies the man on the cover as Shakespeare. In an elegy, Jonson calls Shakespeare the "Sweet Swan of Avon." Another poem in the book refers to Shakespeare's dual careers as an actor and a writer. These references indicate that the man from Stratford was also the playwright.

Despite this evidence, the notion that Shakespeare may not have authored the works in his name has captured the public's imagination. Several notable Anti-Stratfordians have proclaimed that Shakespeare is not the true author, including American author Mark Twain, English film star Charlie Chaplin, Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud, and British actor Mark Rylance. Twain presented his case in the 1909 book Is Shakespeare Dead?

If Shakespeare did not write his own plays, Anti-Stratfordians believe various candidates could have written them. The leading candidate is Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. A poet and patron of the arts, de Vere was well-learned, well-traveled, and a favorite at Queen Elizabeth's court. Oxfordians, as his supporters are called, argue that he would have had the proper learning and experience. His death in 1604, however, came before Shakespeare's later plays, including The Winter's Tale and The Tempest. Still, Freud and Chaplin believed de Vere was behind Shakespeare's works.

Sir Francis Bacon was born in 1561 and died in 1626, which means he lived throughout Shakespeare's lifetime. The educated Bacon was a philosopher, a statesman, and an author. He had the political experience necessary for Shakespeare's compositions. Wilmot, who challenged Shakespeare's authorship in the 1780s, and Twain suspected that Bacon was the true author.

Christopher Marlowe was a poet and playwright born the same year as Shakespeare. He was murdered in 1593, but Marlovian supporters believed he faked his death and wrote Shakespeare's later plays.

Another theory holds that a group of writers was responsible for Shakespeare's works. Delia Bacon believed Sir Walter Raleigh led the group, which included Francis Bacon. Rylance, a former director of Shakespeare's Globe Theater, also believes in the group theory. Other writers believed to have collaborated with Shakespeare include John Donne, Mary Sidney, and even Queen Elizabeth.

The Shakespeare authorship question has spurred a long-lasting debate that continued to fascinate the public in the twenty-first century. Although some researchers and literary world figures argued another person or people had to be responsible for the work attributed to Shakespeare, the consensus of those in the academic world remained firmly attached to the theory that Shakespeare had indeed been the sole author of his catalog. Stratfordians believed that the theories of Anti-Stratfordians were akin to conspiracy theories. However, research published in The Journal of Scientific Exploration in 2023 provided evidence that included claims of doubts as to Shakespeare's authorship began shortly after the author's death. The debate continued to fascinate the literary world as the subject delves into the nature of genius of the world's greatest writer while generating passionate discourse from both sides of the controversy.

Bibliography

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Holderness, Graham. "The Unreadable Delia Bacon." Shakespeare Beyond Doubt: Evidence, Argument, Controversy, edited by Paul Edmondson and Stanley Wells, Cambridge UP, 2013, pp. 5–15.

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McCrea, Scott. The Case for Shakespeare: The End of the Authorship Question. Praeger Publishers, 2005.

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