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Shakespeare Conspiracy Theory: Was the Bard Really the Bard?
Introduction:
For centuries, William Shakespeare has reigned supreme as the unparalleled master of the English language, the author of iconic plays like Hamlet, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet. Yet, amidst the reverence and acclaim, a persistent whisper echoes through literary history: the Shakespeare authorship question. This isn't just a niche academic debate; it's a captivating conspiracy theory that challenges established narratives and invites us to explore the mysteries surrounding one of history's most celebrated writers. This post will delve deep into the heart of the Shakespeare authorship question, exploring the arguments, evidence (or lack thereof), and enduring fascination with this enduring mystery. We'll dissect the key contenders proposed as the "real" Shakespeare, examine the historical context, and ultimately leave you with a critical understanding of this intriguing intellectual puzzle.
I. The Seeds of Doubt: Why Question Shakespeare?
The Shakespeare authorship question isn't fueled by simple anti-Shakespeare sentiment. It arises from a confluence of factors that, while individually inconclusive, collectively create a compelling narrative of doubt. These include:
The Missing Manuscript Mystery: Surprisingly, there's a lack of substantial manuscript evidence directly linking Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon to his plays and sonnets. While we have printed editions, the original handwritten drafts remain elusive. This absence fuels speculation about a ghost writer or a collaborative effort.
Shakespeare's Humble Beginnings: The Stratford Shakespeare's relatively modest upbringing and lack of formal education contrast sharply with the sophisticated vocabulary, profound understanding of courtly life, and encyclopedic knowledge displayed in his works. This disparity prompts the question: could a man of his background have produced such intellectually rich works?
The "Dark Lady" and Other Literary Allusions: Some argue that the sonnets and plays contain hidden clues and allusions suggesting a different author. The identity of the "Dark Lady," for instance, remains a subject of intense speculation, with various candidates proposed based on interpretations of the poems' cryptic language.
The Legal and Historical Records: A meticulous examination of historical records related to Shakespeare's life reveals inconsistencies and gaps in the narrative, prompting questions about the accuracy and completeness of the information we possess. This lack of definitive documentation further fuels the conspiracy.
II. The Key Contenders: Who Could Have Been the Real Shakespeare?
Numerous candidates have been proposed as the true author of Shakespeare's works, each with their proponents and detractors. Some of the most prominent include:
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford: Arguably the most popular alternative candidate, Oxford's aristocratic background, extensive education, and known involvement in theatrical circles make him a compelling contender. Proponents point to stylistic parallels between his known writings and Shakespeare's works.
Francis Bacon: Another frequently cited candidate, Bacon was a renowned philosopher, scientist, and writer. His intellectual prowess and involvement in secret societies lend credence to the theory, although the evidence is largely circumstantial.
Christopher Marlowe: The theory that Christopher Marlowe, the celebrated playwright, faked his death and continued writing under the Shakespeare pseudonym is particularly dramatic. This theory often points to similarities in writing styles and themes.
Emilia Bassano Lanier: A lesser-known candidate but an important one in the context of reclaiming female voices in literary history. Her skills as a poet and her connections to the Elizabethan court are highlighted by her supporters.
III. Deconstructing the Arguments: Evidence and Counter-Evidence
The arguments for and against each candidate are complex and often based on circumstantial evidence, stylistic analysis, and interpretations of historical context. Proponents of alternative authorship often highlight:
Stylistic Analysis: Comparisons of writing styles between the proposed candidates and Shakespeare's works are frequently cited. However, these comparisons are subjective and open to interpretation.
Hidden Codes and Ciphers: Some proponents claim to have found hidden codes and ciphers within Shakespeare's works that reveal the true author's identity. These claims are highly debated and often lack rigorous scientific support.
Historical Context and Connections: The social and political context of the Elizabethan era is often invoked to support the candidacy of particular individuals. However, interpretations of this context vary widely.
Counterarguments to the conspiracy theories often center on:
The Volume and Consistency of Works: The sheer volume and consistent quality of Shakespeare's output are difficult to explain if multiple authors were involved.
The Lack of Contemporary Evidence: The absence of contemporary evidence supporting alternative authorship is a strong argument against the conspiracy theories.
The Strength of Traditional Scholarship: Centuries of scholarly work have established Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon as the author, and challenging this requires overwhelming evidence, which is lacking.
IV. The Enduring Appeal: Why the Conspiracy Persists
Despite the lack of definitive proof, the Shakespeare authorship question continues to fascinate and engage. This enduring appeal stems from several factors:
The Mystery Itself: The inherent mystery of an unsolved puzzle is inherently captivating. The possibility of uncovering a hidden truth is a powerful draw for many.
Challenging Established Authority: The theory allows individuals to question established narratives and challenge the authority of traditional scholarship.
The Romantic Notion of Secret Identities: The idea of a hidden author operating under a pseudonym taps into our fascination with secret identities and hidden agendas.
The Desire for a More Dramatic Story: The conspiracy theory often offers a more dramatic and intriguing narrative than the relatively understated life of Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon.
V. Conclusion: Unraveling the Enigma
Ultimately, the Shakespeare authorship question remains an enigma. While the lack of definitive proof favors the traditional attribution, the compelling arguments and enduring fascination with the conspiracy suggest a deeper cultural significance. The debate itself highlights the complex relationship between authorship, historical evidence, and the enduring power of literary masterpieces. Whether or not William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon was the sole author, the questions raised by the conspiracy have enriched our understanding of the Elizabethan era and the intricate process of literary creation.
Book Outline: "Unmasking the Bard: A Deep Dive into the Shakespeare Authorship Question"
Introduction: Briefly introducing the Shakespeare authorship question and outlining the book's structure.
Chapter 1: The Case for Doubt: Examining the reasons behind questioning Shakespeare's authorship.
Chapter 2: The Contenders: Profiling the main alternative candidates and their supporting evidence.
Chapter 3: Evidence and Counter-Evidence: A detailed analysis of the arguments for and against each theory.
Chapter 4: The Cultural Impact: Discussing the enduring appeal and significance of the authorship question.
Chapter 5: Conclusion: Summarizing the key findings and reflecting on the enduring mystery.
FAQs:
1. Is there any definitive proof that someone other than Shakespeare wrote the plays? No, there is no definitive proof. The evidence is largely circumstantial and open to interpretation.
2. Why is the Earl of Oxford often considered a strong candidate? His aristocratic background, education, and connections to theatrical circles, coupled with stylistic comparisons, make him a compelling alternative.
3. What is the significance of the missing manuscripts? The absence of original manuscripts directly linking Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon to his works fuels speculation about other authors.
4. How do stylistic analyses contribute to the debate? Comparisons of writing styles between Shakespeare and other candidates are used, but these are subjective and open to interpretation.
5. What role does historical context play in the debate? The social and political climate of Elizabethan England is used to support various claims, but interpretations differ.
6. Are there any hidden codes or ciphers mentioned in the debate? Yes, some proponents claim to have found hidden codes, but their validity is highly contested.
7. Why does the Shakespeare authorship question continue to fascinate people? The mystery, the challenge to authority, and the romantic appeal of secret identities contribute to its enduring appeal.
8. What is the main counterargument to the conspiracy theories? The sheer volume and consistent quality of Shakespeare's works are hard to explain if multiple authors were involved.
9. What is the likely conclusion to this debate? The debate will likely continue, as definitive proof supporting any alternative author is currently absent.
Related Articles:
1. Edward de Vere and the Shakespeare Authorship Question: An in-depth analysis of the evidence supporting Edward de Vere as the real Shakespeare.
2. Francis Bacon and the Cipher Theories: Exploring the claims of hidden codes and ciphers linking Bacon to Shakespeare's works.
3. Christopher Marlowe's Mysterious Death and the Shakespeare Conspiracy: Examining the theory that Marlowe faked his death and continued writing as Shakespeare.
4. The "Dark Lady" Sonnets and Their Interpretations: Analyzing the sonnets and the various interpretations of the "Dark Lady's" identity.
5. Shakespeare's Education and the Mystery of His Genius: Exploring the contrast between Shakespeare's background and the sophistication of his works.
6. Stylistic Analysis and the Shakespeare Authorship Debate: A detailed examination of the techniques and limitations of stylistic analysis.
7. The Historical Records and the Shakespeare Myth: A critical analysis of the historical evidence surrounding Shakespeare's life.
8. Emilia Bassano Lanier: A Forgotten Candidate for Shakespeare's Identity: A discussion of the candidacy of Emilia Bassano and the role of gender in the debate.
9. The Social and Political Context of Elizabethan England and Its Impact on Shakespearean Literature: An exploration of the historical backdrop influencing the creation and interpretation of Shakespeare’s works.
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: Contested Will James Shapiro, 2011-09-19 For two hundred years after William Shakespeare's death, no one thought to argue that somebody else had written his plays. Since then dozens of rival candidates - including The Earl of Oxford, Sir Francis Bacon and Christopher Marlowe - have been proposed as their true author. Contested Will unravels the mystery of when and why so many people began to question whether Shakespeare wrote the plays (among them such leading writers and artists as Sigmund Freud, Henry James, Mark Twain, Helen Keller, Orson Welles, and Sir Derek Jacobi) Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro's fascinating search for the source of this controversy retraces a path strewn with fabricated documents, calls for trials, false claimants, concealed identity, bald-faced deception and a failure to grasp what could not be imagined. If Contested Will does not end the authorship question once and for all, it will nonetheless irrevocably change the nature of the debate by confronting what's really contested: are the plays and poems of Shakespeare autobiographical, and if so, do they hold the key to the question of who wrote them? '[Shapiro] writes erudite, undumbed-down history that . . . reads as fluidly as a good novel.' David Mitchell, the Guardian. |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: The Shakespeare Conspiracy Ted Bacino, 2010-07-13 TWO QUESTIONS HAVE ALWAYS PLAGUED HISTORIANS: HOW COULD Christopher Marlowe, a known spy and England's foremost playwright, be suspiciously murdered and quickly buried in an unmarked grave just days before he was to be tried for treason? HOW COULD William Shakespeare replace Marlowe as England's greatest playwright virtually overnight when Shakespeare had never written anything before and was merely an unknown actor? Historians have noted that the Bard of Stratford was better known at that time for holding horses for the gentry while they watched plays. The Shakespeare Conspiracy is a historical novel that intertwines the two mysteries and then puts the pieces together to offer the only possible resolution. The novel, a wild romp through gay 16th Century Elizabethan England, is a rapidly unfolding detective story filled with comedy, intrigue, murder and illicit love. And most importantly, all recorded events, persons, dates and documents are historically accurate. You will Get the scandalous view of the real William Shakespeare, with his sexual peccadilloes, illegitimate children and mistresses Wander through the gay world of Christopher Marlowe, when it was acceptable to be homosexual just so long as one stayed within one's own class as did Kings like James I, Edward II, and others Observe Inspector Henry Maunder matching wits with Christopher Marlowe's patron, Sir Thomas Walsingham one cleverly hiding the facts and other cunningly discovering the truth Watch the arguments unfold, showing the actual reasons that many historians believe that it could only have been Christopher Marlowe writing all those great works. It's a tale of murder, mayhem and manhunts in the underbelly of London as the Black Plague scourges the country and the greatest conspiracy plot of all time is hatched. It's The Shakespeare Conspiracy! |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: The Shakespeare Conspiracy - A Novel Ted Bacino, 2010 Two questions have always plagued historians: how could Christopher Marlowe, a known spy and England's foremost playwright, be suspiciously murdered and quickly buried in an unmarked grave, just days before he was to be tried for treason? How could William Shakespeare replace Marlowe as England's greatest playwright virtually overnight --when Shakespeare had never written anything before and was merely an unknown actor? The Shakespeare Conspiracy is a historical novel that intertwines the two mysteries and then puts the pieces together to offer the only possible resolution. |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: Shakespeare Beyond Doubt Paul Edmondson, Stanley Wells, 2013-04-18 Did Shakespeare write Shakespeare? This authoritative collection of essays brings fresh perspectives to bear on an intriguing cultural phenomenon. |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: Shakespeare and the Psalms Mystery Jem Bloomfield, 2017-08-29 Did Shakespeare write Psalm 46 of the King James Bible? In Shakespeare and the Psalms Mystery Jem Bloomfield investigates the literary legend that the famous playwright left his mark on the Authorized Version. He delves into the historical, textual and literary evidence, showing that the story isn't true - but that there are much more engrossing stories to be told about Shakespeare and the Bible. Whilst amassing the evidence against the Psalm 46 legend, Bloomfield asks why people want to believe it. What does this myth tell us about the connections between Shakespeare and the Bible? What does it reveal about people's views of religion and culture? In an intriguing investigation, Bloomfield ranges from the theatres of sixteenth-century England to the churches of the modern United States. On the way the reader is shown exiled Protestants becoming illegal Bible-smugglers, Edwardian schoolboys making jokes about the Book of Daniel, Lady Mary Sidney writing poetry inspired by the Psalms, Rudyard Kipling taking instructions from his own personal daemon, Lancelot Andrewes declaring that Jesus was a gardener, and other remarkable scenes from literary history. Shakespeare and the Psalms Mystery argues that the truth is always odder and more fascinating than any conspiracy theory. In debunking the legend of Shakespeare's hand in the King James Bible, it offers the reader a glimpse into the real mysteries which these books and their histories possess. Jem Bloomfield is Assistant Professor of Literature at the University of Nottingham. His previous publications include articles in scholarly journals on literature, theatre and religion, and the book Words of Power: Reading Shakespeare and the Bible. |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: In Shakespeare's Shadow Michael Blanding, 2021-03-30 The true story of a self-taught sleuth's quest to prove his eye-opening theory about the source of the world's most famous plays, taking readers inside the vibrant era of Elizabethan England as well as the contemporary scene of Shakespeare scholars and obsessives. What if Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare . . . but someone else wrote him first? Acclaimed author of The Map Thief, Michael Blanding presents the twinning narratives of renegade scholar Dennis McCarthy and Elizabethan courtier Sir Thomas North. Unlike those who believe someone else secretly wrote Shakespeare, McCarthy argues that Shakespeare wrote the plays, but he adapted them from source plays written by North decades before. In Shakespeare's Shadow alternates between the enigmatic life of North, the intrigues of the Tudor court, the rivalries of English Renaissance theater, and academic outsider McCarthy's attempts to air his provocative ideas in the clubby world of Shakespearean scholarship. Through it all, Blanding employs his keen journalistic eye to craft a captivating drama, upending our understanding of the beloved playwright and his singular genius. Winner of the 2021 International Book Award in Narrative Non-Fiction |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare William Shakespeare, 1907 |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: Shakespeare and Consciousness Paul Budra, Clifford Werier, 2016-05-11 This book examines how early modern and recently emerging theories of consciousness and cognitive science help us to re-imagine our engagements with Shakespeare in text and performance. Papers investigate the connections between states of mind, emotion, and sensation that constitute consciousness and the conditions of reception in our past and present encounters with Shakespeare’s works. Acknowledging previous work on inwardness, self, self-consciousness, embodied self, emotions, character, and the mind-body problem, contributors consider consciousness from multiple new perspectives—as a phenomenological process, a materially determined product, a neurologically mediated reaction, or an internally synthesized identity—approaching Shakespeare’s plays and associated cultural practices in surprising and innovative ways. |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: The Shakespeare Conspiracy Graham Phillips, Martin Keatman, 1994 The life of William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon is shrouded in mystery. There is no record of his having received an education, buying a book, or writing a single poem or play. There is no evidence of any one having had a conversation with him or receiving a letter from him. No one in the Warwickshire town of Stratford seems to have known that William Shakespeare was a successful London playwright while he was alive. Even the monument at his burial site - the bust of a balding man with a quill and parchment - was an 18th-century replacement. The original depicted a figure with his hands on a malt-sack; a man whose profession was not a writer, but a dealer in grain. |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: Shakespeare and His Authors William Leahy, 2015-03-17 The Shakespeare Authorship question - the question of who wrote Shakespeare's plays and who the man we know as Shakespeare was - is a subject which fascinates millions of people the world over and can be seen as a major cultural phenomenon. However, much discussion of the question exists on the very margins of academia, deemed by most Shakespearean academics as unimportant or, indeed, of interest only to conspiracy theorists. Yet, many academics find the Authorship question interesting and worthy of analysis in theoretical and philosophical terms. This collection brings together leading literary and cultural critics to explore the Authorship question as a social, cultural and even theological phenomenon and consider it in all its rich diversity and significance. |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: The Plays of William Shakspeare. .... William Shakespeare, 1800 |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: Palladis Tamia Francis Meres, 1973 |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: Shakespeare's Dark Lady John Hudson, 2014-03-15 Amelia Bassano Lanier is proved to be a strong candidate for authorship of Shakespeare's plays: Hudson looks at the fascinating life of this woman, believed by many to be the dark lady of the sonnets, and presents the case that she may have written Shakespeare's plays. |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: Shakespeare and Elizabeth Helen Hackett, 2009-04-05 This book explores the history of invented encounters between Shakespeare and the Queen Elizabeth I, and examines how and why the mythology of these two cultural icons has been intertwined in British and American culture. It follows the history of meetings between the poet and the queen through historical novels, plays, paintings, and films, ranging from works such as Sir Walter Scott's Kenilworth and the film Shakespeare in Love to lesser known examples. Raising questions about the boundaries separating scholarship and fiction, it looks at biographers and critics who continue to delve into links between these two. In the Shakespeare authorship controversy there have even been claims that Shakespeare was Elizabeth's secret son or lover, or that Elizabeth herself was the genius Shakespeare. The author examines the reasons behind the lasting appeal of their combined reputations, and locates this interest in their enigmatic sexual identities, as well as in the ways they represent political tensions and national aspirations. |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: Francis Bacon’s Contribution to Shakespeare Barry R. Clarke, 2019-01-24 Francis Bacon's Contribution to Shakespeare advocates a paradigm shift away from a single-author theory of the Shakespeare work towards a many-hands theory. Here, the middle ground is adopted between competing so-called Stratfordian and alternative single-author conspiracy theories. In the process, arguments are advanced as to why Shakespeare’s First Folio (1623) presents as an unreliable document for attribution, and why contemporary opinion characterised Shakspere [his baptised name] as an opportunist businessman who acquired the work of others. Current methods of authorship attribution are critiqued, and an entirely new Rare Collocation Profiling (RCP) method is introduced which, unlike current stylometric methods, is capable of detecting multiple contributors to a text. Using the Early English Books Online database, rare phrases and collocations in a target text are identified together with the authors who used them. This allows a DNA-type profile to be constructed for the possible contributors to a text that also takes into account direction of influence. The method brings powerful new evidence to bear on crucial questions such as the author of the Groats-worth of Witte (1592) letter, the identifiable hands in 3 Henry VI, the extent of Francis Bacon’s contribution to Twelfth Night and The Tempest, and the scheduling of Love’s Labour’s Lost at the 1594–5 Gray’s Inn Christmas revels for which Bacon wrote entertainments. The treatise also provides detailed analyses of the nature of the complaint against Shakspere in the Groats-worth letter, the identity of the players who performed The Comedy of Errors at Gray’s Inn in 1594, and the reasons why Shakspere could not have had access to Virginia colony information that appears in The Tempest. With a Foreword by Sir Mark Rylance, this meticulously researched and penetrating study is a thought-provoking read for the inquisitive student in Shakespeare Studies. |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: Shakespeare's Lost Kingdom Charles Beauclerk, 2011-02-08 “A book for anyone who loves Shakespeare . . . One of the most scandalous and potentially revolutionary theories about the authorship of these immortal works.” —Mark Rylance, First Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre It is perhaps the greatest story never told: the truth behind the most enduring works of literature in the English language, perhaps in any language. Who was William Shakespeare? Critically acclaimed historian Charles Beauclerk has spent more than two decades researching the authorship question, and if the plays were discovered today, he argues, we would see them for what they are—shocking political works written by a court insider, someone with the monarch’s indulgence, shielded from repression in an unstable time of armada and reformation. But the author’s identity was quickly swept under the rug after his death. The official history—of an uneducated merchant writing in near obscurity, and of a virginal queen married to her country—dominated for centuries. Shakespeare’s Lost Kingdom delves deep into the conflicts and personalities of Elizabethan England, as well as the plays themselves, to tell the true story of the “Soul of the Age.” “Beauclerk’s learned, deep scholarship, compelling research, engaging style and convincing interpretation won me completely. He has made me view the whole Elizabethan world afresh. The plays glow with new life, exciting and real, infused with the soul of a man too long denied his inheritance.” —Sir Derek Jacobi |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: The Winter's Tale Annotated William Shakespeare, 2021-05-03 The Winter's Tale is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some critics consider it to be one of Shakespeare's problem plays because the first three acts are filled with intense psychological drama, while the last two acts are comedic and supply a happy ending |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: The Plays William Shakespeare, 1824 |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: Shakespeare by Another Name Margo Anderson, 2011-11-04 The debate over the true author of the Shakespeare canon has raged for centuries. Astonishingly little evidence supports the traditional belief that Will Shakespeare, the actor and businessman from Stratford-upon-Avon, was the author. Legendary figures such as Mark Twain, Walt Whitman and Sigmund Freud have all expressed grave doubts that an uneducated man who apparently owned no books and never left England wrote plays and poems that consistently reflect a learned and well-traveled insider's perspective on royal courts and the ancient feudal nobility. Recent scholarship has turned to Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford-an Elizabethan court playwright known to have written in secret and who had ample means, motive and opportunity to in fact have assumed the Shakespeare disguise. Shakespeare by Another Name is the literary biography of Edward de Vere as Shakespeare. This groundbreaking book tells the story of de Vere's action-packed life-as Renaissance man, spendthrift, courtier, wit, student, scoundrel, patron, military adventurer, and, above all, prolific ghostwriter-finding in it the background material for all of The Bard's works. Biographer Mark Anderson incorporates a wealth of new evidence, including de Vere's personal copy of the Bible (in which de Vere underlines scores of passages that are also prominent Shakespearean biblical references). |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: This Is Shakespeare Emma Smith, 2019-05-02 A THE TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019 'The best introduction to the plays I've read, perhaps the best book on Shakespeare, full stop' Alex Preston, Observer 'It makes you impatient to see or re-read the plays at once' Hilary Mantel A genius and prophet whose timeless works encapsulate the human condition like no others. A writer who surpassed his contemporaries in vision, originality and literary mastery. Who wrote like an angel, putting it all so much better than anyone else. Is this Shakespeare? Well, sort of. But it doesn't really tell us the whole truth. So much of what we say about Shakespeare is either not true, or just not relevant, deflecting us from investigating the challenges of his inconsistencies and flaws. This electrifying new book thrives on revealing, not resolving, the ambiguities of Shakespeare's plays and their changing topicality. It introduces an intellectually, theatrically and ethically exciting writer who engages with intersectionality as much as with Ovid, with economics as much as poetry: who writes in strikingly modern ways about individual agency, privacy, politics, celebrity and sex. It takes us into a world of politicking and copy-catting, as we watch him emulating the blockbusters of Christopher Marlowe and Thomas Kyd, the Spielberg and Tarantino of their day; flirting with and skirting round the cut-throat issues of succession politics, religious upheaval and technological change. The Shakespeare in this book poses awkward questions rather than offering bland answers, always implicating us in working out what it might mean. This is Shakespeare. And he needs your attention. |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: Sir Henry Neville Was Shakespeare John Casson, William D. Rubinstein, 2016-04-15 Who really wrote the plays of Shakespeare? |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: The Mysterious William Shakespeare Charlton Ogburn, 1984 Contains the material gathered by the author's investigation into the identity of the real Shakespeare--Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford. |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: The Taming of the Shrew William Shakespeare, 1904 |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: Discriminating Data Wendy Hui Kyong Chun, 2021-11-02 How big data and machine learning encode discrimination and create agitated clusters of comforting rage. In Discriminating Data, Wendy Hui Kyong Chun reveals how polarization is a goal—not an error—within big data and machine learning. These methods, she argues, encode segregation, eugenics, and identity politics through their default assumptions and conditions. Correlation, which grounds big data’s predictive potential, stems from twentieth-century eugenic attempts to “breed” a better future. Recommender systems foster angry clusters of sameness through homophily. Users are “trained” to become authentically predictable via a politics and technology of recognition. Machine learning and data analytics thus seek to disrupt the future by making disruption impossible. Chun, who has a background in systems design engineering as well as media studies and cultural theory, explains that although machine learning algorithms may not officially include race as a category, they embed whiteness as a default. Facial recognition technology, for example, relies on the faces of Hollywood celebrities and university undergraduates—groups not famous for their diversity. Homophily emerged as a concept to describe white U.S. resident attitudes to living in biracial yet segregated public housing. Predictive policing technology deploys models trained on studies of predominantly underserved neighborhoods. Trained on selected and often discriminatory or dirty data, these algorithms are only validated if they mirror this data. How can we release ourselves from the vice-like grip of discriminatory data? Chun calls for alternative algorithms, defaults, and interdisciplinary coalitions in order to desegregate networks and foster a more democratic big data. |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: Shakespeare's Lives Samuel Schoenbaum, 1991 This volume presents a study of the changing images and differing ways that the life of English poet and playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616) has been interpreted throughout history. The author takes readers on a tour of the countless myths and legends which have arisen to explain the great dramatist's life and work, bringing the story right up to 1989. He reconstructs as much of the elusive author's life as possible, considering his family history, his economic standing, and his reputation with his peers; the Shakespeare who emerges may not always be the familiar one. |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: Shakespeare Stanley Wells, 2003 From the entry of Shakespeare's birth in the Stratford church register to a Norwegian production of Macbeth in which the hero was represented by a tomato, this enthralling and splendidly illustrated book tells the story of Shakespeare's life, his writings, and his afterlife. Drawing on a lifetime's experience of studying, teaching, editing, and writing about Shakespeare, Stanley Wells combines scholarly authority with authorial flair in a book that will appeal equally to the specialist and the untutored enthusiast. Chapters on Shakespeare's life in Stratford and in London offer a fresh view of the development of the writer's career and personality. At the core of the book lies a magisterial study of the writings themselves--how Shakespeare set about writing a play, his relationships with the company of actors with whom he worked, his developing mastery of the literary and rhetorical skills that he learned at the Stratford grammar school, the essentially theatrical quality of the structure and language of his plays. Subsequent chapters trace the fluctuating fortunes of his reputation and influence. Here are accounts of adaptations, productions, and individual performances in England and, increasingly, overseas; of great occasions such as the Garrick Jubilee and the tercentenary celebrations of 1864; of the spread of Shakespeare's reputation in France and Germany, Russia and America, and, more recently, the Far East; of Shakespearian discoveries and forgeries; of critical reactions, favorable and otherwise, and of scholarly activity; of paintings, music, films and other works of art inspired by the plays; of the plays' use in education and the political arena, and of the pleasure and intellectual stimulus that they have given to an increasingly international public. Shakespeare, said Ben Jonson, was not of an age but for all time. This is a book about him for our time. |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: Shakespeare's Beehive George Koppelman, Daniel Wechsler, 2015-10-01 A study of manuscript annotations in a curious copy of John Baret's ALVEARIE, an Elizabethan dictionary published in 1580. This revised and expanded second edition presents new evidence and furthers the argument that the annotations were written by William Shakespeare. This ebook contains text in color, and images. We recommend reading it on a device that displays both. |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: The New Oxford Shakespeare William Shakespeare, 2016 The Complete Works: Modern Critical Edition is part of the landmark New Oxford Shakespeare--an entirely new consideration of all of Shakespeare's works, edited afresh from all the surviving original versions of his work, and drawing on the latest literary, textual, and theatrical scholarship.This single illustrated volume is expertly edited to frame the surviving original versions of Shakespeare's plays, poems, and early musical scores around the latest literary, textual, and theatrical scholarship to date. |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: Shakespeare's Accents Sonia Massai, 2020-04-09 A history of the reception of Shakespeare on the English stage focusing on the vocal dimensions of theatrical performance. |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: The Science of Shakespeare Dan Falk, 2014-04-22 William Shakespeare lived at a remarkable time—a period we now recognize as the first phase of the Scientific Revolution. New ideas were transforming Western thought, the medieval was giving way to the modern, and the work of a few key figures hinted at the brave new world to come: the methodical and rational Galileo, the skeptical Montaigne, and—as Falk convincingly argues—Shakespeare, who observed human nature just as intently as the astronomers who studied the night sky. In The Science of Shakespeare, we meet a colorful cast of Renaissance thinkers, including Thomas Digges, who published the first English account of the new astronomy and lived in the same neighborhood as Shakespeare; Thomas Harriot—England's Galileo—who aimed a telescope at the night sky months ahead of his Italian counterpart; and Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, whose observatory-castle stood within sight of Elsinore, chosen by Shakespeare as the setting for Hamlet—and whose family crest happened to include the names Rosencrans and Guildensteren. And then there's Galileo himself: As Falk shows, his telescopic observations may have influenced one of Shakespeare's final works. Dan Falk's The Science of Shakespeare explores the connections between the famous playwright and the beginnings of the Scientific Revolution—and how, together, they changed the world forever. |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: Shakespeare Identified J. Thomas Looney, 2019-02-07 In 1920 J. Thomas Looney's Shakespeare Identified introduced the idea that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, was the man behind the pseudonym William Shakespeare. This Centenary Edition-with the first new layout since the 1920 U.S. edition-is designed to enhance readers' enjoyment as they make their way through Looney's fascinating account of how he, shining light from a new perspective on facts already known to Shakespeare scholars of his day, uncovered the true story of who Shakespeare actually was and how he came to write his works. Even as the centenary of its publication approaches, Shakespeare Identified remains the most revolutionary book on Shakespeare ever written. Since its appearance several generations of scholars have deepened and extended Looney's original findings, further substantiating his claim that Edward de Vere was indeed the author of the dramatic and poetic works widely regarded as the greatest in the English language. Perhaps most importantly for scholars, this edition of Looney's classic text identifies the sources of more than 230 passages he quoted from other works, providing readers for the first time with accurate information on the books and papers he consulted in his research. A Bibliography at the end of the book supplements those notes for easy reference to Looney's sources. So if you're new to the Shakespeare authorship question, or even if you've read widely on the subject, get set to enjoy the book that novelist John Galsworthy called the best detective story he had ever read. |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: Alias Shakespeare Joseph Sobran, 1997 This erudite and entertaining work of literary detection sets out to solve the most puzzling mystery in all of literary history: Who wrote Shakespeare's plays? Presenting his case for a swashbuckling Elizabethan courtier, Sobran vindicates a long list of prominent skeptics, among them the great Shakespearean actors, Kenneth Branagh and Sir John Gielgud. of photos & illustrations. |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: The Biggest Secret David Icke, 1999 Every man, woman and child on the planet is affected by the stunning information that Icke exposes. Destined to be a global blockbuster. |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: William Shakespeare Complete Plays William Shakespeare, 2012 The complete plays of Shakespeare are often considered among the greatest works in all of English literature. Replete with great characters, from the portly and funny Falstaff to the hesitative and obsessive Hamlet, the plays present us with the entire gamut of human personality. They give us an unparalleled look at love and humour, death and tragedy, history and magic. These plays represent the peak of genius and art from the English language's greatest writer. |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: The Shakespearean Ciphers Examined William F. Friedman, Elizabeth S. Friedman, 2011-04-14 The authors address theories, which, through the identification of hidden codes, call the authorship of Shakespeare's plays into question. |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: A Critique of Anti-racism in Rhetoric and Composition Erec Smith, 2019-12-12 A Critique of Anti-racism in Rhetoric and Composition: The Semblance of Empowerment critiques current antiracist ideology in rhetoric and composition, arguing that it inadvertently promotes a deficit-model of empowerment for both students and scholars. Erec Smith claims that empowerment theory—which promotes individual, communal, and strategic efficacy—is missing from most antiracist initiatives, which instead often abide by what Smith refers to as a primacy of identity”: an over-reliance on identity, particularly a victimized identity, to establish ethos. Scholars of rhetoric, composition, communication, and critical race theory will find this book particularly useful. |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: Marlowe's Ghost Daryl Pinksen, 2008 On the morning of May 30, 1593, Christopher Marlowe met with three associates in the English intelligence network. Later that evening the Queen's coroner was summoned to their meeting place. A body lay on the floor. After an inquest, the dead man was taken to a nearby churchyard busy at the time receiving victims of the plague. According to the official report, England's foremost playwright was interred without fanfare or marker. Soon, plays attributed to William Shakespeare began to appear on the London stage, plays so undeniably similar to Marlowe's that noted scholars have since declared that Shakespeare wrote as if he had been Marlowe's apprentice. Marlowe's Ghost: The Blacklisting of the Man Who Was Shakespeare explores the possibility that persecution of a writer who dared to question authority may have led to the greatest literary cover-up of all time. |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: Sweet Swan of Avon Robin Williams, 2006-03-15 It is long overdue that someone took a closer look at the brilliant Mary Sidney. I have a suspicion that Mary Sidney’s life, and especially her dedication to the English language after her brother’s death, may throw important light on the mysterious authorship of the Shakespeare plays and poems. —Mark Rylance Actor; Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, 1996–2006; Chairman of the Shakespearean Authorship Trust For more than two hundred years, a growing number of researchers have questioned whether the man named William Shakespeare actually wrote the works attributed to him. There is no paper trail for William Shakespeare—no record that he was ever paid for writing, nothing in his handwriting but a few signatures on legal documents, no evidence of his presence in the royal court except as an actor in his later years, no confirmation of his involvement in the literary circles of the time. With so little information about this man—and even less evidence connecting him to the plays and sonnets—what can and what can’t we assume about the author of the greatest works of the English language? For the first time, Robin P. Williams presents an in-depth inquiry into the possibility that Mary Sidney Herbert, the Countess of Pembroke, wrote the works attributed to the man named William Shakespeare. As well educated as Queen Elizabeth I, this woman was at the forefront of the literary movement in England, yet not allowed to write for the public stage. But that’s just the beginning . . . The first question I am asked by curious freshmen in my Shakespeare course is always, “Who wrote these plays anyway?” Now, because of Robin Williams’ rigorous scholarship and artful sleuthing, Mary Sidney Herbert will forever have to be mentioned as a possible author of the Shakespeare canon. Sweet Swan of Avon doesn’t pretend to put the matter to rest, but simply shows how completely reasonable the authorship controversy is, and how the idea of a female playwright surprisingly answers more Shakespearean conundrums than it creates... —Cynthia Lee Katona Professor of Shakespeare and Women’s Studies, Ohlone College; Author of Book Savvy |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: Jane Austen Nicholas Ennos, 2013-11-01 Was the author of Pride and Prejudice really a poor, uneducated woman with no experience of sex or marriage? A woman who spent most of her life in rural seclusion, never meeting any other authors or literary figures, and whose only formal education was two years at a basic primary school? This is what biographers of Jane Austen expect us to believe, and what Nicholas Ennos refutes in this exposé, Jane Austen: A New Revelation. How could Jane Austen have written these novels, he asks, that have been considered by discriminating critics as some of the finest in the English language? Nicholas Ennos shows how the novels reveal the real author to have been a woman who moved in the highest circles of London society, was educated in Latin and Greek and who spoke fluent French. It reveals the author to be not a retiring spinster, but Jane Austen’s cousin and sister-in-law, Eliza de Feuillide, a married lady of the highest intellect whose ten-year course of education was supervised by her famous father, a man at the very centre of the intellectual life of London. The book traces Eliza’s exciting life, from her birth in Calcutta, India, to the court of Marie Antoinette, the execution of her first husband in the French Revolution and her connections to the leading literary figures of England and Germany. Jane Austen: A New Revelation reveals many new facts and the close connection between the supposed novels of Jane Austen and those of the novelist with the greatest influence on her, Fanny Burney. Nicholas Ennos’s knowledge of languages enables him to cast a fresh eye on these novels, revealing their true author to be a master linguist herself, who took her writing style from both French and Latin.Jane Austen: A New Revelation is the first book published to reveal the true author of these works. It will appeal both to fans of Jane Austen, and literary conspiracists. |
| shakespeare conspiracy theory: King Lear Jeffrey Kahan, 2008-04-18 Is King Lear an autonomous text, or a rewrite of the earlier and anonymous play King Leir? Should we refer to Shakespeare’s original quarto when discussing the play, the revised folio text, or the popular composite version, stitched together by Alexander Pope in 1725? What of its stage variations? When turning from page to stage, the critical view on King Lear is skewed by the fact that for almost half of the four hundred years the play has been performed, audiences preferred Naham Tate's optimistic adaptation, in which Lear and Cordelia live happily ever after. When discussing King Lear, the question of what comprises ‘the play’ is both complex and fragmentary. These issues of identity and authenticity across time and across mediums are outlined, debated, and considered critically by the contributors to this volume. Using a variety of approaches, from postcolonialism and New Historicism to psychoanalysis and gender studies, the leading international contributors to King Lear: New Critical Essays offer major new interpretations on the conception and writing, editing, and cultural productions of King Lear. This book is an up-to-date and comprehensive anthology of textual scholarship, performance research, and critical writing on one of Shakespeare's most important and perplexing tragedies. Contributors Include: R.A. Foakes, Richard Knowles, Tom Clayton, Cynthia Clegg, Edward L. Rocklin, Christy Desmet, Paul Cantor, Robert V. Young, Stanley Stewart and Jean R. Brink |
