William Shakespeare Author or Not? - An Analysis of the Authorship Question Did William Shakespeare actually write Shakespeare? Although throughout history, William Shakespeare has been known as one of the greatest and most prolific authors of all time, many prominent people now question whether Shakespeare was in fact the true and only author of Shakespearean writing. This question has come to light due to numerous historians delving into Shakespeare’s background and family life and noting that Shakespeare’s writings have little in common with his background and personal experiences. Shakespeare had minimal education and never traveled outside of England, yet his writings mirror those of a highly educated aristocrat and a world traveler. …show more content…
A major inconsistency with Shakespeare’s authorship is that all records show that Shakespeare was neither a worldly nor a well-travelled man. In fact, “There is no record that he traveled at all during his formative years, or that he ever left England.” (DoubtAboutWill.org.) Therefore, the logical question is whether someone who has never left his country would have the ability to vividly and in such great detail depict places he had never seen. In addition to being confined to England for his entire life and purportedly writing about other countries, Shakespearean novels also speak with unbelievable familiarity regarding issues of aristocracy and nobility neither of which Shakespeare had experienced in his life. (DoubtAboutWill.org.) “How could an untraveled, poorly-schooled commoner have written so widely on topics about which he would have had no first-hand knowledge – court intrigue, the legal process, life in other countries, even stories and information that had never been translated into English?” (bbcamerica.com) Scholars who support the theory that Shakespeare did in fact author his own plays make the claim that Shakespeare was a genius and well-read man and as such, quite capable to fabricate descriptions of foreign sovereignties. (news.psu.edu) However, even with the acceptance that Shakespeare was a genius, the inside information and level of detail is …show more content…
When researchers searched Shakespeare’s writings, they found almost nothing in his own handwriting. In fact, the few times when evidence was found bearing Shakespeare’s handwriting, it seemed to be written in a shaky manner that simulated the writing of a person who had hardly written or was barely literate. “Yet the only writings said to be in his own hand are six shaky, inconsistent signatures on legal documents, including three found on his will. If, in fact, these signatures are his, they reveal that Mr. Shakspere experienced difficulty signing his name.” (DoubtAboutWill.org.) This casts great doubt to the theory that Shakespeare wrote all or any of the work credited to him and gives rise to alternate theories of authorship. In addition to Shakespeare’s shaky and almost illegible handwriting, the spelling of Shakespeare’s name is inconsistent. The legal documents attributed to the man we assume was William Shakespeare mostly bear the last name Shakspere without the first “e” or the second “a.” (DoubtAboutWill.org.) However, none of his literary work ever used this spelling of his name. In addition to this controversy, many of Shakespeare’s witting’s, hyphenate his name as Shake-speare. (DoubtAboutWill.org.) This hyphening of a name was an uncommon practice for authors when signing their own legitimate name to their work. (DoubtAboutWill.org.)
04/20/17 Shakespeare did write his plays and sonnets. Shakespeare did write his own plays and sonnets. He wrote many plays that are popular today. Shakespeare has always wrote his own plays and there is proof. Shakespeare always loved the theatre, even when he was little.
Are you a Shakespeare enthusiast or are you skeptical about whether he is the true author of his work? Kier Cutler and Simon Schama go neck to neck to determine the truth. Simon Schama's “Shakespeare Shakedown” and Keir Cutler’s “Top 10 Reasons Shakespeare Did Not Write Shakespeare” are the texts we will be looking at today. This century-long argument is going head to head with one thinking Shakespeare wrote his works, and the other not even believing that he existed! Let's get right into it.
Many scholars, such as Carlton Hinmen, are proving that the writing of Shakespeare are the workings of many men. “By comparing preferences if spelling … and comparing these in turn with idiosyncrasies of punctuation, capitalization, line justification … he and others have identified nine hands at work on the First Folio,” (Document 2). This could explain why Shakespeare could write such dark dramas one day and humorous comedies the next day. This could explain how Shakespeare's vocabulary was so extensive.
Alchin, Linda. “Elizabethan Timeline.” Elizabethan Timeline, Siteseen Ltd, 2015, www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-timeline.htm. The timeline which was put together by Linda Alchin goes over the entire Elizabethan Era in England.
With Shakespeare most of his writing follows a format of iambic pentameter which is a way words are put together to flow better. People believe that Shakespeare is only to be heard and not read and dissected by students because of this. In “Kill Bill: why we must take Shakespeare out of the classroom” describes this perfectly. “Most of Shakespeare's audiences were illiterate. His words were chosen to be spoken or heard, not to be read and deadened behind a desk – they wither when performance is removed.
William Shakespeare is an English poet, playwright and actor. He is considered as the greatest writer in the English language. The World views him as the pre-eminent dramatist for his works. During his lifetime, Shakespeare has written a total of 38 plays between 1590 and 1612 with his best works being tragedies. Shakespeare’s tragedies have not only been used for entertainment, but the use of teaching to others.
“By 1957, 15 of 37 plays written by William were published (“William”). William was one of the first to come up with the words we use today (Rosen,80). William came up with a lot of the words in the English Language during his time in London. William wrote about three different types of writing, comedies, tragedies, and histories. William was very famous for these types of plays and is best known for those types.
Today William Shakespeare is known as the famous writer who invented the word eyeball, or is recognized as the author of 154 different sonnets. It is for these reasons that Shakespeare is regarded as the most influential playwright of the 1500’s, however not many people know much about his upbringing or life beyond the Globe Theater. Moreover, there is a shroud of mystery that envelopes Shakespeare’s later life, along with various conspiracy theories. In order for one to truly understand his exceptional pieces of literature, one must understand his childhood, education, and personal life.
Although, it is unclear how Shakespeare’s career in theatre got started, there is proof that in roughly 1594 he became a member of King Chamberlain’s Men (who later changed their name to the King’s Men), an acting company who produced many of Shakespeare’s plays. Several years after he died in 1616, collegues of Shakespeare, John Heminge and Henry Condell, assembled a collected edition of Shakespeare’s plays, and in 1623 appeared as Mr. William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies. Heminge and Condell, as well as contemporaries Ben Jonson and Leonard Digges, make testimonies to Shakespeare and his writings. Indeed, little documentary evidence has been found to support the idea that Shakespeare was a writer, there is additionally
By making the kinds of changes that recognize the multiplicity behind original texts, editions like the New Oxford Shakespeare put Shakespeare back into the context 12 of his age, a time when collaboration between playwrights could account for up to sixty percent of one company’s annual productions. Statistics like the one above are highly specific, and are possible only because we have a theater producer’s business diary that lists group payments to authors, one of the few kinds of ‘smoking-gun’ evidence for collaboration that even scorners find hard to ignore.” However, In the article, Neville also describes, “For example, Two Noble Kinsmen was a
Jack Bishop Period 1 January 9th 2023 Writing Assessment #1 Macbeth Essay (An analysis of Macbeth scenes) William Shakespeare was an English playwright and poet who is widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the English language. He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, in 1564 and baptized on April 26 of that year. His father, John Shakespeare, was a successful glove maker and businessman, and his mother, Mary Arden, was the daughter of a wealthy landowner. In the late 1580s, Shakespeare moved to London, where he began his career as an actor and playwright.
Shakespeare is the famous author of many different plays and poems. He began his writing in the 1500’s, and moved on to theatrical work as well. According to Barnet, “ eighteen of his plays were published during his lifetime.” ( Barnet).
Changing facts for influence is not new in politics. In the early seventeenth century, William Shakespeare wrote a story about King Macbeth of Scotland in which he altered historical facts about Macbeth. Shakespeare had an agenda to please King James I (historic.co.uk). One could argue that this is the primary reason William Shakespeare altered historical facts to win favor with the king and for political bias. Two integral points will support this view, the first being the facts that Shakespeare changed in the play Macbeth.
Shakespeare was a famous author and poet that wrote extremely well-known texts, such as “Romeo and Juliet” and “Hamlet.” Shakespeare lived during the Renaissance when art and science advanced and he was one of the major contributors to this historical period. “Shakespeare Influences the way we speak now” by Hephzibah Anderson, “William Shakespeare’s Impact on Theatre” by Octane, and “How Outrage Built Over a Shakespearean Depiction of Trump” by Sara Krulwich suggest that Shakespeare had a great influence on many aspects of society, such as the phrases we use, style of theater, and is a figure of inspiration to many people. Shakespeare has contributed to many well-known phrases that are still used to this day, showing his significance in history.
William Shakespeare is universally considered as the greatest playwright in the English language. Coincidentally, it is heavily debated whether he is the actual “Shakespeare.” Doubts about the authorship of Shakespeare’s works were first speculated in the late 18th century by Reverend James Wilmot, who claimed that he was distraught by the lack of local references in Shakespeare’s works (Rubenstein 74). Since the 19th century, the doubts have increased rapidly and result in the Shakespearean controversy. Arguments against Shakespeare’s authorship are based on conjecture because there are not enough facts to argue that he is not the author.