William Shakespeare - The Only Author of his Plays and Sonnets - vs. the film, Anonymous

William Shakespeare is today regarded as one of the greatest poets and playwrights of the English language and a genius at writing. His many plays have been translated into every major living language today and have been performed more than any other playwright in the history of playwrights in the world. Since the 19th century his name and works have been revered by scholars the world round. His plays are highly popular today because his themes are universal and timeless and they are constantly studied, performed and reinterpreted time and time again. Shakespeare has been delighting audiences with his comedies, histories and tragedies since the 16th century. His sonnets have been used over and over again to explain and symbolize romantic love, unrequited love, loneliness, sadness and loss of love. Shakespeare is taught in middle schools, high schools and colleges and universities daily. I would imagine no student gets through school without having read and studied at least one Shakespeare play or sonnet. Nearly every English teacher has taught a Shakespeare play or sonnet or some of his poetry to students. I know I have done my share of teaching Shakespeare's plays and sonnets during my teaching days.

Unfortunately, Shakespeare's authenticity and name are being questioned again in a new film coming out in a few weeks called Anonymous, by director, Roland Emmerich.This is one film I am skipping because it puts forth the "Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship" and claims Shakespeare was a fake, a fraud and did not author the plays and sonnets attributed to him since the 16th century. This I believe: William Shakespeare is the author, and the only author, of the plays and sonnets attributed to him since 1592.

Shakespearean Facts

William Shakespeare was born the son of John and Mary (Alden) Shakespeare in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England. His actual birthdate is not known, but church records in Stratford show that William Shakespeare was baptised on April 26, 1564. He grew up in Stratford and attended grammar school there. Grammar school education at that time taught Greek and Latin languages and study of history. His father was a glove maker and apprenticed his son in this trade.

We know Shakespeare married at the age of eighteen to Anne Hathaway, aged 26 and pregnant, because court records show he took out a marriage license in Stratford on Aril 27, l582. Six months later his daughter, Susanna, was born and two years after that twins, Hamnet and Judith, were born.

Soon, Shakespeare left Stratford for London and gained employment as an actor and playwright. He would return sporadically to Stratford to visit his family but from 1592 on, historical traces mention him as part of the London theatre scene and this is when his plays began showing up on the London stage.

In 1594 his plays were published in quarto editions and in l598 his name began to appear on the title pages of his scripts and plays. He continued to act in his own and other plays after his success as a playwright. His name is listed on cast lists for his plays and those of Ben Johnson, a contemporary colleague of Shakespeare's. He played the ghost of Hamlet's father in his play of the same name. He also played Adam in his play, As You Like It and was part of the chorus in his play, Henry VI. He became part owner of The Globe, the London theatre where his plays were performed, and he was also part owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men later to become the King's Men.

Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589-1613. His early plays were comedies and histories. From the end of the 16th century to 1608 he wrote mainly tragedies such as Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, and Macbeth, some of the finest works in the English language. His last phase of writing,1608-1613, he wrote his tragicomedies which were his romances, and collaborated with other playwrights.

Retiring to Stratford-Upon-Avon in 1613, he was received as a well-respected actor and playwright. He died three years later and was buried inside the local church. After his death, the First Folio of Shakespeare's works were published, in 1623. It is a collected edition of his dramatic works, except for two plays, and all are now recognized by mainstream scholars and critics as Shakespeare's.

One hundred and fifty years after his death the authorship of Shakespeare's plays first came into question. There has been speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, sexuality, religious beliefs and whether the works attributed to him were written by others and there are a small minority of academics who believe Shakespeare was not the author of the plays and sonnets attributed to him. There are various reasons why these scholars believe Shakespeare was not the genius he has been believed to be and could not have authored all the plays and sonnets attributed to him:

• Shakespeare was considered beneath Christopher Marlow, Thomas Nash and Robert Greene all contemporary playwrights in London during Shakespeare's time. They were all university trained playwrights. Shakespeare was not as he was a tradesman and had never studied at university. Shakespeare was most likely seen as an upstart by these three men.
• No one knows exactly when Shakespeare's plays were written; only when they were performed.
• No evidence exists that any plays were written after 1604

The possible authors of Shakespeares plays and sonnets that have been thrown out over the years are:

• Christopher Marlow
• Francis Bacon
• Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford
• Group theories: several men were authors of all of Shakespeare's works.

The Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship, which I believe is propaganda in the film and an exploited theme in the film, Anonymous, states Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, was the true author of all the works attributed to William Shakespeare. This theory was first proposed by J. Thomas Looney in his 1920 book, Shakespeare Identified in Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. In his book, Looney puts forth the arguments that the author of all these plays had to be an aristocrat of great formal learning, intimate with the Elizabethan court and someone widely travelled to cities and places in the plays. This inferred profile fits the biography of Oxford, not the documented biography of Shakespeare. But, Shakespeare took his plots for his plays from past writings by others, specifically antiquated Greek and Roman writings. For example, the plot for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet comes from the Greek play, Phyramis and Thisby. Shakespeare didn't have to travel to know these places that were the setting of his plays. He also had studied these places in grammar school, which, of course, taught more than is taught in grammar schools today.

Shakespeare made all the heroes of his plays aristocrats, and the villians and buffoons from the middle and lower classes of English society. Looney derived from this that Oxford, not Shakespeare had to be the author of the plays because he was an aristocrat and, therefore, also, interpreted the plays and sonnets as being autobiographical of the Earl of Oxford.

The Earl of Oxford died in 1604 before ten plays of Shakespeare were performed or published, according to generally accepted chronology. But, Looney explained this discrepancy saying the unfinished works were finished by others and released after his death. Between the years of 1594-1603 fifteen Shakespeare plays were published. Then, the publication of new plays stopped for four years when Oxford died in 1604 and Looney said this was because Shakespeare was not really writing the plays. Three new plays by Shakespeare were issued in 1608 and1609 and were the last plays published until eighteen plays were published in the First Folio in 1623. Since the Oxford family participated in the printing and publication of the First Folio and because Shakespeare's patron was the Earl of Southampton, a good friend of Oxford's, Looney assumed Oxford was the author of the plays and poetry.

Oxford has been lauded as a dramatist and court poet of considerable merit. But, today, most scholars say his talent has been exaggerated in deference to his rank as an earl in the Elizabethan court. Dramatic works or plays by Oxford do not even exist.

Lyric poetry written by Oxford does exist and survives under his own name. But, the "poetry is far inferior to Shakespeare's" (Joseph Sabran, Alias Shakespeare) and it is not believed by many that Oxford wrote the sonnets attributed to Shakespeare.

Other arguments for Oxford being the true author of Shakespeare's works are based on Elizabethan royal court intrigue. It has been documented in history that Queen Elizabeth and Oxford were lovers who had a son together named William Hughes. Hughes grew up to become an actor, performing under the name of William Shakespeare, because his father (Oxford) was publishing under his name. However, the only evidence I have been able to find is that the child they had together was a girl, named Elizabeth.

Why Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford is not the author of Shakespeare's works.

Objection to the Oxfordian theory put forth in the film, Anonymous, is the 1604 death of the Earl of Oxford. The Tempest was written in 1610-1611 and is based on a true shipwreck that happened on the island of Bermuda, after Oxford's death. Shakespeare was alive at the time, and had knowledge of the wreck. Macbeth was written in the aftermath of the Gunpowder Plot, discovered on November 5, 1605, a year after Oxford died. And mainstream scholars all agree that Oxford was only a mediocre poet not capable of the caliber of writing in Shakespeare's sonnets. Also, from 1580-1602, Oxford was a patron of an acting company that did NOT produce any of Shakespeare's plays. And, if Shakespeare had NOT written his own plays and poetry, then the number of people needed to suppress the information of the true write,r would have made attempts to keep it silent, highly unlikely to succeed.

Again, a conspiracy theory is not possible when looking at the works of William Shakespeare. Also, plain old snobbishness enters into the picture here. Many critics of Shakespeare have not and will not concede a mere tradesman, who did not study at university, could be the genius he has been heralded as and could not write all the plays attributed to him.

Columbian University professor, James Shapiro, in his book on the subject has stated, "Testimony of contemporary writers, court records and much else support Shakespeare's authorship." Documentary evidence of the type used by academics for the Shakespeare authorial attribution are there: title pages, testimony of contemporary poets, historians, and biographers and official records supports the fact that William Shakespeare did author his own plays and sonnets. There are sufficient records to establish Shakespeare as the author of his own works.

No hard evidence, whatsoever, links the Earl of Oxford as author to Shakespeare's plays and sonnets.

Therefore, the film, Anonymous, that supports the "Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship," has no merit and is not worthy of viewing, in my opinion. I know there is no such thing as slander or libel when a person is dead, especially a person dead for nearly five centuries, but, I believe the film, Anonymous, is irresponsible in putting forth such a lame theory. William Shakespeare rightly deserves his place in English literature and history and the genius stature he has earned.

Having taught Shakespeare and his plays and sonnets during my teaching days, I don't think I will ever be convinced that anyone else authored Shakespeare's plays but Shakespeare. As an example from today's times, look at Steve Jobs. A college drop-out, yet a genius when it came to inventing computer products that have transformed our lives in the 21st century. Being a teacher has taught me that some of the unlikeliest people can be the geniuses of this world. Some have a vision of the future that the rest of us can't see. Sometimes the unlikeliest have the ability to relate to and understand the human condition and the common man. Look, for example, to Princess Diana, an aristocrat, who had the uncanny ability to identify with the common person; not something she was expected to be able to do. Therefore, I can only conclude that William Shakespeare, indeed, was the author of the works that have been attributed to him since his lifetime.