William Shakespeare: Poet or Illiterate
When one thinks of Shakespeare, they will most likely think of a beloved, famous writer
from the 1600s. Sadly, parts of his life are completely unknown. And even though it may be hard
to believe, he may not have even written the plays that his name is associated with. Many
believe that William Shakespeare did not write his plays. There are many theories about why he
did not write them and who really did.
Although it might seem impossible that Shakespeare was not the author of the thirtyseven famous plays, it is completely reasonable. Academics have not found a single document
proving that Shakespeare was even an author. It is said that he began grammar school at age
seven and was pulled out at age thirteen. However, at this time, the grammar school kept no
records whatsoever. After this, he had absolutely no more education. He would have had to
educate himself. However, if he had left Stratford around 1587, he would have had very little
time to do anything else while he was making a living as an actor and learning the trade of
acting. Other practicalities make it very unlikely that Shakespeare was the real author. There is
no record of him traveling abroad to Italy, however 14 plays are set there. The setting is in great
detail and it seems he had great knowledge of the language. All but one of his plays were set at
the heart of either the royal or imperial court. The characters express easy familiarity with court
etiquette and political rivalries of court life, however no record has been discovered that he was
even a minor courtier. He was 15 when The Merchant of Venice was penned, but at that time,
he had enough trouble trying to write his own name. The only actual writing we have of his are
six penned signatures. They are the only evidence that we have of his writing abilities. Three of
the signatures were on the pages of his will, and three were on legal documents. All of the
names in the signatures were spelled differently and written in different ways. It was written as
Shakspeare, Shakspere, and a few other ways. It is likely that he was an actor, but he almost
definitely was not a playwright.
Most people also naturally ask the question, “Well if Shakespeare wasn’t the author,
then who was?” There is also a whole lot of evidence supporting the belief that Edward de Vere
was the real author. He is currently the only candidate left in the field. There have been
numerous candidates such as Christopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon, and Sir Philip Sidney, but
he is the one whose life matches up the best with the “playwright” William Shakespeare’s.
Unlike Shakespeare, Edward de Vere was highly educated. He lived at William Cecil’s house in
London as royal ward of court. If he did write the plays, it would make a lot of sense because he
would be comfortable with what went on in courts. De Vere was known as a playwright and also
a poet. He even gave himself the penname ‘Spear-shaker’ due to his ability at tournaments.
Two-thirds of all the documented performances of Shakespeare's plays were not in the public
theatres but either at Court, the Inns of Court, or at Oxford and Cambridge universities. De Vere
would probably perform in court, but Shakespeare almost definitely would not. Absolutely no
plays were written by William Shakespeare after 1604. This was the year of Edward de Vere’s
death. It is hard to believe that a mostly uneducated man like Shakespeare could have risen to
these standards. The parallels between de Vere’s life and the plays are also very numerous.
It is completely possible that William Shakespeare of Stratford existed as an actor. But
there is a whole lot of evidence leading to the conclusion that Shakespeare did not write his
works and Edward de Vere did.
Works Cited
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Gilyeat, Dave. "Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford: The Real Shakespeare?" BBC News.
BBC, 27 Nov. 2009. Web. 26 Sept. 2012.
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Greenblatt, Stephen. "The New York Review of Books." The Death of Hamnet and the
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"Shakespeare's Biography." Shakespeare Resource Center -. J. M. Pressley and
Shakespeare Resource Center, 4 May 2012. Web. 07 Sept. 2012.
<http://www.bardweb.net/man.html>.
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the Shakespeare Resource Center, 4 May 2012. Web. 10 Sept. 2012.
<http://www.bardweb.net/will.html>.
Thrasher, Thomas. "Shakespeare's Early Life." The Importance of William Shakespeare.
San Diego, CA: Lucent, 1999. 14-19. Print.
"The Top Ten: Ten Plays That Everyone Should Know." No Fear Shakespeare: A
Companion. New York, NY: Spark Notes, 2007. 91-92. Print.
"Why Did William Shakespeare Write Plays?for Entertainment Or An In Depth
Meaning?" Blurt It. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2012. <http://williamshakespeare.blurtit.com/q974586.html>.
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Web. 16 Sept. 2012. <http://www.william-shakespeare.org.uk/william-shakespeareplaywright.htm>.