Shakespeare All's Well That Ends Well

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"No legacy is so rich as honesty", wrote Shakespeare in his play, "All's Well that Ends Well", not anticipating the irony behind those words. Despite being regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and being credited with writing some of the most timeless, captivating, and thought-provoking plays and sonnets, there are some skeptics doubting his credibility. Through many years of conspiracies, research, and doubt, people have theorized that Shakespeare might not be the writer of his works, and that there are two other candidates who could be responsible.

To clearly understand who Shakespeare was, his background should be analyzed. William Shakespeare was baptized on April 26th, 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. He …show more content…

Whoever wrote them had an aristocratic attitude". Many personalities and scholars agree that one of the most celebrated writers in the English language was never the man from Stratford, but rather, Edward de Vere, England's highest-ranking earl. Unlike Shakespeare, Edward de Vere seems to have the ideal background of the author responsible for England's greatest works- he was an adventurer, a poet, and a highly-educated courier (Hall). In addition, de Vere's uncovered works and letters show a strong Shakespearean style and it is also interesting to note his nickname at court, 'Spear-shaker' (“De Vere Authorship Argument.”). He graduated from Cambridge at the young age of 14, was an expert in law and Italian, and would have had a wide-ranging knowledge of the upper classes – in contrast to William Shakespeare, who was born into the lower class (“The Shakespeare Mystery.”). All this means that de Vere was well placed to write works such as Macbeth, Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet. There is also resemblance in Shakespeare's works of de Vere's life and his family- Hamlet was almost an autobiographical play about the earl’s life. De Vere’s father-in-law, William Cecil (Lord Burghley), is said to be have been re-written as the character Polonius, and scholars believe that in order to parody a man of such high status, one must be close with him in order to write his character convincingly (“De Vere Authorship

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