Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Did Shakespeare Write the Works of Shakespeare?

Episode Date: March 24, 2021

William Shakespeare is widely considered one of the greatest poets and playwrights in the history of the English language. However, over the last two centuries many people have begun to wonder if William Shakespeare of Stratford-on-Avon, England was indeed the person who wrote the works which have been attributed to him. If you look at the evidence or the lack thereof, they aren’t necessarily crazy for thinking it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

William Shakespeare is widely considered to be one of the greatest poets and playwrights in the history of the English language. However, over the last two centuries, many people have begun to wonder if William Shakespeare of Stratford-on-Avon England was indeed the person who wrote the works which have been attributed to him. If you look at the evidence, or the lack thereof, they aren't necessarily crazy for thinking it. Learn more about if William Shakespeare did in fact write the works of Shakespeare on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong? ThruLine is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story that may have gone unnoticed. It effectively turned day into night. And how it shaped the world now.

Time travel with us every week on the ThruLine podcast from NPR. This episode is sponsored by CuriosityStream. If you're interested in the subject of today's episode, I'd recommend. the Shakespeare Enigma. It's a documentary shot on location with expert interviews discussing the question of Shakespeare's authorship. CuriosityStream is celebrating their sixth anniversary. Now through April 21st, annual plans have been discounted by 40%. That means a full year of high-definition programming can now be had for only $11.99.

That's $1 a month. To take advantage of this limited time offer, go to everything-everywhere.com slash curiosity stream or just click on the link in the show notes. If you haven't heard it before, the idea that Shakespeare didn't write the works attributed to him might sound sort of crazy. After all, we have paintings of them. You can go visit his home in the town of Stratford,

so surely he had to have created the works that have his name attached, right? That would be like saying Louis Carroll, George Elliott, Mark Twain, or George Orwell didn't exist. Except that none of those people I just mentioned did in fact exist. They're all pen names. So the idea that someone might write something under another name isn't at all a crazy idea. It's happened many times. So where did this idea about Shakespeare originate?

Why would someone think that Shakespeare might not be the writer behind the works we attribute to him? For 150 years after Shakespeare's death, he wasn't considered the greatest English playwright. It wasn't until the late 18th and really the 19th century that he developed this reputation. Of his contemporaries, John Fletcher and Ben Johnson, were usually raided. as better dramatists than him. As his statue grew, however, people began to pay more attention to him and did more research into the life of William Shakespeare.

What they found, or what they didn't find, was rather troubling. Let's start with the Shakespeare family. His father was a glover, meaning that he made gloves. Nothing wrong with that. However, in legal documents that he signed, he did so with a mark, not a signature.

That is almost always an indication that someone is illiterate. This in and of itself isn't proof of anything. Certainly, someone could rise from modest beginnings, even if it was odd that one of the greatest writers came from illiterate parents. However, Shakespeare had three daughters. One of his daughters used a mark, and the other used a signature which actually appears to be more drawn than written.

That indicated that his children were either illiterate or functionally illiterate, which is very odd for such a great writer. If Shakespeare did indeed write his works, then his family generations went, illiterate, greatest writer in history, illiterate. Then there's the issue of Shakespeare's education. There is no evidence whatsoever of him attending any school at any level. That isn't to say that he didn't attend school,

but if he did, it was probably no more than a local grammar school. It's almost certain he never attended university. Shakespeare had plays that were set in foreign countries. In fact, he had ten plays that were set in Italy. Yet, he never left England. There's no evidence that he was ever anywhere other than Stratford or London. Likewise, many of his plays dealt with life at Royal Court, something which he would have had no knowledge of.

What about the actual documents? He was a writer so we could see his actual writing to establish some sort of providence, right? Well, there are literally no documents of any sort which were written by Shakespeare that still exist. No poems, no plays, no correspondences, no shopping lists, no receipts, nothing. In fact, the only samples of Shakespeare's handwriting that exists are six signatures he left on legal documents and contracts. All six are written in a very shaky hand and use a different spelling of his name each time. Compared to other 17th century signatures, it lacks the flowing lines and confidence of someone who's literate and well-practiced in writing. What about his business?

That he make claims about his works and the money from it? In Shakespeare's last will and testament, there is nothing about any writings or written works whatsoever. While 16 of his plays were published after his death, there was nothing in his will that even mentioned them. His children also never made any claims about rights or money from his writing. His will, which was a catalog of his assets, also didn't include a single book. When he died, there were no eulogies or other odes written to him or even mentioned of his death. I'll confess there's no smoking gun here. In fact, unless some 400-year-old document were to be discovered, there probably never will be. The idea that Shakespeare didn't write

the works attributed to him isn't a fringe conspiracy theory. It's been backed by many notable people, including those in the arts. They include Mark Twain, Orson Wells, Ellen Keller, Charlie Chaplin, Siegman Freud, Jeremy Irons, Derek Jacoby, Mark Rylance, Anne Rice, as well as Supreme court justices, John Paul Stevens, Antonin Scalia, and Nobel laureate Sir Roger Penrose. The list is actually way longer, and even includes Keanu Reeves, but the point is, these aren't crackpots. So, did a person named William Shakespeare even exist? Yes, there was someone named William Shakespeare, who was born in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, and did invest and work in the theater. He appeared to be a successful businessman. His will did leave a

a fair amount of money to his children, and he made enough to be buried inside the church at Stratford. The funerary monument inside the church at Stratford today shows him holding a quill and paper, but the original monument, of which there are drawings, only had his hands over what looked like a bag of wool. The big question then is, if Shakespeare didn't write the works attributed to him, who did? There have been no fewer than 80 different people identified as possible authors, including Queen Elizabeth I herself. However, there are really only three names that have been given serious attention. The first is Sir Roger Bacon. He was a philosopher and one of the developers

of the scientific method. He was the Lord Chancellor of England and served at court. He was clearly smart and educated enough to be a candidate. The second is Christopher Marlowe, who was a noted dramatist and author in his own right. However, for this theory to hold any water, involves him faking his death in 1593. The candidate with the most support, by far, is the 17th Earl of Oxford, Edward Devere. The group which supports Devere as the author are known as Oxfordians. The arguments for Edward Devere being the author are the flip side as to why so many people are skeptical of Shakespeare.

All the facts about his life just check all the boxes. Devere was a highly educated aristocrat. He was a regular feature at the Court of Queen Elizabeth, giving him in-depth knowledge about court intrigue. He was raised in a house that literally had its own theater company. He patronized acting companies and was part owner in London's Black Friar Theater. His Bible that he owned had underlined passages throughout the book. 80% of the biblical references in Shakespeare's work correlate to the underlined passages in Devere's Bible.

He traveled extensively, including spending time in Italy where many of Shakespeare's plays are located. Moreover, surviving writings from members of of Elizabeth's court, praised him as both a poet and a playwright, even though none of his plays survive under his name. The only people who Shakespeare ever dedicated works to were the earls of Southampton, Montgomery, and Pembroke. The Earl of Southampton was a suitor to one of Edward DeVier's daughters. The Earl of Montgomery married one of his daughters, and the Earl of Pembroke was engaged to one of his daughters. So on one hand, you have someone with all the pedigree, education and travel that would be required to write the works of Shakespeare and was an acclaimed

writer, but for whom there are few surviving works. On the other hand, you have someone whose name is attached to the works, but has almost nothing else which would make sense for him being an author. So what gives? Given the circles that the two traveled in, in the theater community in London, they almost certainly knew each other. At the time, publishing plays and poems were considered lowbrow for someone in the aristocracy. Moreover, many of the subjects broached in Shakespeare's plays dealt with contemporary political issues, but they did so in a historical context.

There would have been concerns about charges of treason or sedition if they could be traced back to someone at court. Moreover, having an actual person would throw people off the scent of the real author more than a fictitious pen name would. In this theory, William Shakespeare of Stratford was just a frontman or a theatrical broker for Edward Devere.

Of course, there are those who deny all of this. They are known as Stratfordians. They insist that William Shakespeare did in fact write all the works attributed to him, and it can all be explained by the fact that he was just a genius. The entire exercise in the attribution of the works of Shakespeare is ultimately one of circumstantial evidence. What little we know of William Shakespeare's life, and we really don't know very much, does not fit the profile of a great writer.

However, there's no hard evidence for anyone else having been the author either. It's just a lot of tangential facts and coincidences. Regardless who wrote the many plays and sonnets attributed to William Shakespeare, the fact remains that there's some of the greatest literary works in the history of the English language. The associate producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Thor Thompson. If you'd like to support the show, please donate over at patreon.com. There is content only available to supporters, merchandise, and even, in opportunities for a show producer credit.

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