Is William Shakespeare really who we think he is?

A picture of how Shakespeare, might

William Shakespeare, the most famous playwright of all time, his plays are translated into almost every languages, you’d say English literature and people without thinking would associate it with the one and only Shakespeare.

So for starters who is William Shakespeare? He’s an Englishman born, raised and buried in Stanford, married Anne Hathaway at 18, with whom he had three children. He started his career as an actor in London, alongside being a poet, playwright and the owner of a playing company known later as King’s Men; he later retired to his home town at the age of 49, where he died three years later.

So why would people suspect his writing abilities? Especially that during his lifetime and centuries that followed nobody suspected him, or his writings. People are starting to think that this man, who supposedly wrote 38 plays, 154 sonnets, and several other poems, isn’t really the rightful author.

Shakespeare was brought in a successful yet illiterate household, both of his parents were illiterate, also no records were ever found of him attending schools or getting any kind of education. To add insult to the injury, there were no scripts to be found written in Shakespeare’s handwriting, as if he never really wrote anything. Also the plays Shakespeare had so much detail of noble life, their sports, politics and culture, it even made fun of commoners, that Shakespeare himself along with his family, are part of.

Many other evidences might help the Anti-Stradfordians (those who believe in alternative-author theory), mainly is the lack of documents and his strange unpoetic will, which didn’t mention any papers, books, or any of the 18 plays that were unpublished at the time of his death.

One of the candidates for being the true author is, Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford. A noble man, who didn’t want his reputation to be damaged, yet wanted his writings to reach the people. So by mere chance, Shakespeare happens to be the one to deliver them to the masses as his own.

“Anonymous” is a movie about Edward, Shakespeare, and how Shakespeare became the legend he is. The movie adopts that the Earl Edward, is the writer who wasted his life writing those plays, but never having the chance to hear what people thought, people other than the royal court, who believed that what he was doing is a forbidden sin.

Here enters Ben Jonson, an aspiring writer and a friend of the actor then, William Shakespeare. At first the deal was that Edward would give Ben the plays to be performed under his name in exchange for money and his silence, but then William gets greedy and decides to take the chance and the place of his friend Ben.

The film shows Shakespeare to be this greedy, talentless actor, whose only care is fame, money and women. There are a lot of remarks in the movie for his illiteracy, lack of talent whether in acting or writing, and his bad personality. The movie sure gives Shakespeare a bad reputation.

The case of Shakespeare’s authorship would take a lot of time to write, but it’s hard to believe that this legend would be a fraud as many of his opposes claim, even big names like Mark Twain, Sigmund Freud and others are convinced that he might not be the real author after all.

To sum it up, Shakespeare might have had a little help, but that certainly doesn’t mean that he’s a complete fraud. Something like this wouldn’t have gone by without any mention at least after his death, it’s hard especially during that era, to let go of a noble man who’s actually against the royalty.

news@theasian.asia