Shakespeare's American Theory

For years, critics have questioned whether Shakespeare wrote his plays, along with his other works. Although those who question his authorship are a minority, it is a serious debate. Many arguments date back hundreds of years ago, but are still relevant and believed by a minority today. Many people, including famous actors, academics, and writers, have suggested that the plays and other works credited to William Shakespeare were either not the work of a single man or, were not written by Shakespeare at all. Even people such as Mark Twain who said "So far as anybody actually knows and can prove, Shakespeare of Stratford-on-Avon never wrote a play in his life.” and Samuel Mosheim Scmuker, who questioned if Shakespeare could have written such …show more content…
Some arguments for the Baconian Theory, are based on anagrams or hidden messages found in the plays. Dr. Isaac Platt found that by extracting certain letters from a well-known line from Hamlet, "The funeral baked meats did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables," it creates with the anagram "FR. BACONI NATI," which according to his unconventional form of Latin means that Francis Bacon wrote the plays. Platt 's phrase, translated into conventional Latin, would actually mean "Of the birth of Fr. Bacon." (Wheeler). The last candidate is Christopher Marlowe. According to this theory, “There are more than a hundred duplicate lines in the works of Shakespeare taken from previous writings of Marlowe. And more so, there are numerous references to Marlowe’s works in Shakespeare’s writings.” …show more content…
There was never an Elizabethan playwright by the name of William Shakespeare documented. Instead, there was only an Elizabethan actor by the name of William Shaxper from Stratford-upon-Avon, England. When Shakespeare is referred to, it is actually Shaxper being spoken of. Unfortunately, there is no evidence of Shaxper being an author of any kind. In fact, Shaxper was almost completely illiterate aside from a few signatures he left behind. There are no original manuscripts of any Shakespeare plays or the poems in existence today. Also, no letters were written by Shaxper and only six shaky signatures, all in a dispute about authenticity. Both of Shaxper’s parents, John and Mary, were illiterate. His wife Anne Hathaway was also illiterate. His children were also illiterate, which would make therefore make Shaxper the only influential writer in all of history whose children are known to have been illiterate. The actor, Shaxper, never attended college and has no existing record of attending any kind of school (Cutler). Furthering his case of illiteracy, Shaxper’s will is four pages and long and was written by an attorney instead of Shaxper himself. The will does not mention and kind of written work. Shaxper also never ventured outside of England. Almost, one-third of Shakespeare’s plays takes place in Italy or references specific areas of Italy, a place Shaxper would have little to no knowledge of. When Shaxper died, his