Many writers, scholars, and critics doubt that the man of Stratford-on-Avon, the actor, could have authored works attributed to William Shakespeare.
Doubters
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain are some of the writers who have expressed doubt that the man traditionally extolled as the author of the tragedies, comedies, and sonnets could have written those works.
Other doubters are actors Orson Welles, Charlie Chaplin, Leslie Howard, and Sir John Gielgud. Even Sigmund Freud and Supreme Court Justices John Paul Stevens and Harry Blackmun have asserted that they believe the more likely author was the Earl of Oxford, Edward de Vere.
The little that is known about this actor Shakespeare suggests that he did not have the education nor the experience to write those works. The important Shakespeare scholar, Daniel L. Wright, supports the claim that Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, wrote the works attributed to William Shakespeare.
The Shakespeare-Oxford Society is dedicated to studying this issue. This Society claims, “if you get Shakespeare wrong, then you get the whole Elizabethan Age wrong.” An excellent point. Their work is important and fascinating.
Shakespeare Sonnets
While the scholars are working out the true identity of the writer of the sonnets, I shall be offering a series that analyzes and comments on them. There are 154 sonnets, and I begin with sonnet 18, because it is so widely anthologized and analyzed yet misunderstood.
To read my article, please go to, “Shakespeare Sonnet 18: ‘Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day’”
