Free Paper on the Theories about the Plays Attributed to Shakespeare

Many scholars over the years have the belief that there is a conspiracy surrounding the plays and poems of Shakespeare and that Shakespeare was not the engineer behind the works attributed to him. The theories as to the authenticity of the works attributed to Shakespeare started two centuries ago which characterized Shakespeare as non-knowledgeable minor paid by the Earl of Oxford, to pass the plays as his own, because it was deemed impossible aristocracy member to be a successful playwright in England.

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William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Warwickshire, England and during his childhood, Shakespeare seemed destined to follow his father's footsteps as a Glover. With the conditions in his family, William is said to have managed to receive his early education in a grammar school which ended in his mid-teens though scholars have put a substantial critic and suggesting that there is no documentary evidence of handwriting or any other document to show that Shakespeare went to the grammar school.

In 1592, it was rumored that Shakespeare was caught poaching deer in the estate of the local squire. This could have led to his arrest but lucky enough, he fled to London to escape prosecution and that is when he took up work as an actor and a playwright. It is during this era that his talent in this field is recognized and in due time Shakespeare became famous and was said to have contributed a lot to the English culture. As a matter of fact, in 1598 Frances Meares recognized Shakespeare as the most significant writer of all times in playwright and poet. Shakespeare made constant efforts to grow his career, and this led to critics who challenged the authenticity of his articles, some even calling him a fraud. These critics have built over the centuries even long after his death.

The argument that is put forward by the scholars who criticize Shakespeare is that the plays and sonnets of Shakespeare contain too much knowledge of foreign places and too much knowledge of the court life and the affairs of the court which could not have been comprehended by someone low in the social order. Other conspiracies are of the view that the plays contained a wide range of knowledge and style that ought not to have been written by a person who lacked advanced education that most of the contenders had.

Kinney, 2012, however, found out that Shakespeare's advocates have pointed out that indeed Shakespeare had a good education in the Latin language, rhetoric, and mathematics at the local school but their adversaries say there is no much evidence of his presence. Stratfordians fight back in favor of Shakespeare, and they say that most of the playwrights in Elizabethan London came from humble backgrounds, for instance, Shakespeare's friend, Ben Johnson. No one has proceeded forward to suggest that someone else wrote Ben Johnson's plays and neither Ben Johnson or any other Shakespeare's friends or relatives have indicated that their colleague, William Shakespeare, did not write the plays performed in his name. Nonetheless, Shakespeare was referred to more than Twenty times in different documents, and also his name appeared on the title pages of plays and poems.

Doubts about Authorship

The conspiracy in the authorship of the works of Shakespeare that significantly contributed to his attributes first arose in the 19th century. An American by the name Joseph Hart suggested the theory that the plays and texts of Shakespeare were authored by several writers. In 1856 Bacon seconded Hart's idea and indicated that indeed Shakespeare's works were authored by Sir Francis Bacon and Sir Walter Raleigh (cooper, 2016). Over the years, names of individual writers presumed to be real authors of Shakespeare's work have been documented, and moreover, different theories have been developed to show who the real authors of Shakespeare's work are, and the arguments are as follows.

Another part of this choice is that Shakespeare in his early life had no upper class history which is in a lot of his plays. Since Edward was part of the upper class he could have written some of Shakespeare's early work. My inquisition on this is wouldn't Shakespeare need a good reputation in order to make Edward write under his name? You wouldn't want to write under the name of someone no one has heard of or respects. It would defeat the purpose of publishing it with a low chance of people seeing it.

The Oxfordian Theory

The Oxfordian Theory envisages that the plays and texts attributed to Shakespeare were written by Edward the Earl of Oxford. Revealed the public eye in the early 20th century through a book authored by Looney, the theory has several explanations for the doubt as to the authorship of Shakespeare's plays. Looney had the idea that the evidence relied upon from the plays and texts of William Shakespeare, suggested that the author of the plays was a well-educated individual in matters to do with the law and was not only that person knowledgeable in the law, but also an expert in that field. He stated that the author of those plays had a lot of intellectual knowledge in ancient Greek and Latin texts. In this view, he said that Shakespeare had no such levels of education by the fact that he was just a son of a tradesman who came from a low-income family and that he was not capable of obtaining knowledge relating to the law and ancient texts.

With the above reason, Thomas Looney recognized Edward as the most probable candidate for the right authorship of Shakespeare's work which he presented inform of circumstantial evidence. Edward was the 17th Earl of Oxford, and it was deemed impossible for him to engage playwright among the common because of the fear of social embarrassment but according to theorists, Edward was an eloquent writer, and it was presumed that Shakespeare used Edward's articles in his plays and the subsequent texts. Thomas Looney also concluded that due to the nature and time of the birth of William Shakespeare, he was too young and to earn a living through ordinary theatre activities.

Thomas suggests that Edward used Shakespeare as a 'tool' for the execution of his work. Nevertheless, scholars who support this theory continue to trawl Shakespeare's work for any evidential clues to the true authorship while offering historical anomalies as far as evidence of Edward de Vere being a writer of Shakespeare's works that earned him great attributes across the globe.

The Baconian Theory

This Theory provides that the scientist by the name Bacon was the legal mind behind Shakespeare's plays. Bacon was a high person in the government, and for those who support this theory that Bacon was the actual author, similar to de Vere, it would have been impossible for him to identify himself as just an ordinary playwright.

The theory firmly lies on the philosophical capabilities of Bacon. He was a philosopher besides being a scientist, and theorists argue out that His ideas are said to be so much similar strictly to the plays and texts of William Shakespeare, and they also reiterate that the evidence to prove that Bacon was the author relies on hidden clues in the plays and writings. However, scholars of this theory have not come out openly to state the specific text or play that contain hidden traces that indeed show, Bacon was the legitimate author of Shakespeare's work. Supporters of this particular theory greatly support Bacon's claim as the most celebrated English writer and the rightful owner Shakespeare's texts and plays.

The Marlovian Theory

Christopher Marlowe was among the most celebrated playwrights of the Elizabeth Era. He was identified a contemporary of William Shakespeare. Marlowe was accused of being a spy in the aristocrat government, and he was later said to be stabbed to death in Deptford. Theorists suggested that his death was plotted to escape charges.

Theorists went ahead and established that Marlowe changed his identity and that he went ahead to write the scripts under the name "William Shakespeare" In support of their findings, the theorists noted that Shakespeare published his first publication precisely two weeks after the brutal murder of Marlowe. However, Shakespeare supporters suggested that the style of writing regarding vocabulary and other related sources differed among both authors. They further argue that Marlowe, unlike Shakespeare, had little skills in comedy.

Nonetheless, the supporters of this theory believe that Marlowe faked his death and changed his identity and also the evidence that he lived long after his death as William Shakespeare.

The Derbyite Theory.

Here, theorists suggested that the 6th Earl of Derby, William Stanley, who was the preferred candidate according to a group of French writers in the 20th century who strongly believed that William was the legitimate author of Shakespeare's works.

The theory came to light after Greenstreet, saw a letter by Fenner, a Jesuit spy, and the content of the message was a complain that Stanley was busy with the typical players instead of concentrating with the Catholic cause. The theorists brought evidence which suggests that parts of 'Love's labor's lost' are founded on events which occurred at the court of Navarre in 1578, plays they suggest Shakespeare would not know of, but William would because he was an aristocrat. Meaning that the information was passed down to Shakespeare.

Conclusion

In conclusion the suspected authors are Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlow, William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby, and Edward de Vere 17th, Earl of Oxford each of them having reasonable evidence and motives for writing under Shakespeare's name. Francis's for avoiding tarnishing his reputation in case of failure. Marlow being suspected of being killed could have written as Shakespeare to avoid being found again. Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby because the similarities between his hometown plays and the works of Shakespeare, and lastly Edward de Vere 17th, Earl of Oxford. Who could have wrote some plays by to see if it was just his name tarnishing his work. In all its most likely a combination of authors and not just one.

The question that is left in people's mind is whether Shakespeare, son of a tradesman, was the stunning genius who contributed so much to the culture of the English people through his magnificent plays and texts or he was fraudster who got lucky after taking credit on behalf of an aristocrat who had a fear of social embarrassment.

The other question is whether the different theorists that suggest the works of Shakespeare was authored by different people are wrong or collect. There are loopholes as to these theories with reference Shakespeare's supporters and advocates, the argument of the adversaries is shallow and it can be subjected to critics. Moreover, they argue that there is no sufficient evidence to support their arguments.

The Oxfordians like to argue that there was an aristocratic convention behind the writing of the plays but Shakespeare scholars reject this and point out clearly that the many poems and plays Oxford did without fear of sanction. The Marlovians stated that their candidate had to fake his death to continue writing under William Shakespeare to avoid arrest (Bate, 2017). However since the theory involved some England's mighty men, charges were not dropped. Concerning how Marlowe remained undetected for those decades, is mere speculation. During this period it was hard to trace a person. There were no passports or photographs.

My opinion is that Shakespeare is a combination of authors and not just one. This is backed by the lack of educational evidence, lack of an upper class life portrayed in most of his plays.