Shakespeare and Me: The Man or the Myth?

Man or Myth?

Since the growth of Shakespeare's popularity, people have doubted whether the many plays and poems are attributable to him: Shakespeare of Stratford Upon Avon. For the next few chapters I hope to examine a collection of the most prominent theories and test their feasibility by looking at evidence for and against William Shakespeare being the legitimate author.
Prior to this, in this chapter I think it is important to examine why people doubt Shakespeare as the author of so many great works.

The authorship of Shakespeare's plays began to be questioned, on record, in the mid nineteenth century, by this time the works had gained international acclaim and popularity as, arguably, the worlds greatest poet/playwright. What began to encourage doubt in the minds of a few scholars and Shakespeare enthusiasts was the nature of William Shakespeare's life, as we began to learn what little there is to know about the man's existence. Initially, the humble existence of the son of a leather trader did not seem convincingly that of a poetic and literary genius - suspicions had been raised in English literary circles. The Anti-Stratfordians (Shakespeare doubters) went on to argue that the humble countryman lacked the necessary education, aristocratic nature and knowledge of the royal court, which is so pivotal to so many of the plays in the canon. To compliment these areas of doubt, the gaps in his time line (see the chapter: "The Man from Stratford") and the sheer genius of all of the plays, each with such literary greatness, supports the arguments against Shakespeare as the legitimate author. Could one man produce such a huge collection of sheer dramatic genius?

As a result of these rumours, arguments have developed over the past one hundred and fifty years proposing over eighty different candidates as the true author of Shakespeare's work. The most prominent of these candidates include: Sir Francis Bacon; Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford; Christopher Marlowe; and William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby all of which I will examine and scrutinise in the next few chapters.

In response to these theories, Shakespeare scholars allege that those who believe certain plays reflect the lives of their proposed candidate have made unreliable interpretations. In addition to this, Stratfordians make it clear that there is a wealth of evidence to support Shakespeare's authorship including title pages, the testimonies of his contemporaries and historians, and official records—all of which are water-tight and cross reference each other. Furthermore, it is arguable that no direct evidence exists in favour of any other candidate and the fact that the authorship argument never arises until centuries after his death, purportedly says a lot about the strength of the anti-Stratfordian argument. I shall aim to explore the argument for Shakespeare as the author later on the book.

For now, let the mystery commence! As I explore each candidate ask yourself what you think about the strength of their case for authorship - evaluate and give your opinion as I shall be very interested to hear your conclusions on this matter once you have heard all of the submissions.

Now, the first candidate! Step forth Sir Francis Bacon!!

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