The identity of the writer of the plays and sonnets attributed to “William Shakespeare” has long been debated; the most likely candidate appears to be Edward De Vere.
Part of the quandary is that a chap named William Shakespeare and De Vere were contemporaries. William Shakespeare, an actor, he lived from April 26, 1564, until April 23, 1616; De Vere from April 12, 1550 until June 24, 1604.
The main challenge to William’s actually having written the works attributed to him is that he lacked both the education and experience to account for the learning and depth of understanding portrayed in the sonnets and dramatized in the plays, while the opposite is true for De Vere. Episodes from the plays have been found to be part of De Vere’s life experience.
The truth may never be fully known, and scholars and critics continue to argue on either side.
Here is an analysis of a De Vere sonnet, “De Vere’s Love Poem.” Also, I continue to analyze the Shakespeare sonnets, of which I have complete the following: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 73, 96, 116, 126, 130, 138
