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The guy from Stratford or Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford?First Folio of William Shakespeare's plays First Folio of William Shakespeare's plays
Published in 1623, the 'First Folio' a collection of 36 plays by William Shakespeare, is considered one of the most influential books ever published in the English language.
Yes, there is an authorship debate about who wrote the Shakespeare canon and has been apparently for centuries. I first heard about it on PBS Frontline: 'The Shakespeare Mystery' in 1989.
In 1990, I visited William’s hometown Stratford-upon-Avon. We visited a period home similar to the one he might have lived in, visited a pub where he might have drank a beer, passed an old church he might have attended. All speculation about the great playwright and poet. What gives?
All truth goes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. -Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)
English Professors mostly (except for those at Concordia University in Portland Oregon) still believe the grammar-school educated William Shakespeare was the greatest writer and contributor to the English language. Dozens of literary skeptics such as Mark Twain, Henry James, Ralph Emerson Waldo, Orson Welles and working-man poet Walt Whitman did not share such a belief.
Writing in the mid-1840s, Ralph Emerson Waldo admitted that he could not "marry" Shakespeare's life to Shakespeare's work: "Other admirable men have led lives in some sort of keeping with their thought, but this man is in wide contrast."
Who was William Shakespeare of Stratford?
I was amazed to learn that the supposed author William left behind no books, no letters, no notes, nothing in his own handwriting - except six signatures in legal documents with three different spellings! At his death in 1616, the famous Will Shakespeare mentions leaving his 2nd-best bed to his wife. But no mention of 20 plays written, but still to be published in the Folio of 1622.
All we have of William’s biography is a collection of legal documents... deeds, summons, the original funeral monument picture etc. that paint a portrait of a small town grain-merchant, maybe a friend of actors? In contrast, all of William's literary contemporaries left behind much evidence of their writing ability.
None of William's prominent neighbours knew he was playwright or poet. No mention was made of poor William's funeral in 1616. Why was he not buried in Westminster Abbey ?
Scholars have determined William’s grandparents and parents were illiterate! His daughters as well. Imagine four generations: illiterate, illiterate, greatest writer in English history (8000 words contributed to the English language), followed by another generation of illiteracy. Unbelievable!
Three biographers of the noble 3rd Earl of Southampton (Shakespeare's reputed mentor, and “fair youth” of the Sonnets) have not found a trace of William Shakspere in Southampton’s generous biography. Nor does William appear in the letters or biography of ANY writer or player of his period.
Shakespeare’s greatest biographer Schoenbaum finishes his definitive review of dozens of Shakespeare’s biographies with a lament that William’s biography does not match his literary works
The Short Case for Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford
Edward de Vere was born 17th Earl of Oxford, a descendant of Kings (Shakespeare's favorite topic). He was a child prodigy tutored by scholars at Cecil House...click here
Credit to www.stevemoretti.ca