There are few people who would fail to recognize the name William Shakespeare. He was a well-known poet, playwright and actor in early English times. He is the author of many famous works that were and still remain extremely popular throughout the world. He is often considered the greatest playwright of the English language. In fact, he is frequently referred to as England’s national poet (History Staff, 2015). Although Shakespeare works are extremely popular, recorded information about the man himself and his life is limited. Minimal documentation has survived regarding Shakespeare and other than his writings, a few official documents regarding his marriage, will and his death, not much is known about the literary mastermind. As written on
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As Jumana Farouky stated on the TIME article depicting this controversy, “Doubter’s started questioning the true identity of the writer in the late 19th century” (Farouky, 2007). Some scholars believe that Shakespeare, the writer, failed to exist at all and that his work can be traced to multiple other authors. Derek Jacobi who is a well-known Shakespearian actor “unveiled a ‘Declaration of Reasonable Doubt’” in 2007 (Farouky, 2007). This declaration was created by an educational charity devoted for raising awareness of Shakespeare’s existence. The group has taken their research very seriously and have numerous backers. Intelligent and well respected men such as Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and Orson Welles have publicized their willingness to believe the notion that Shakespeare is a hoax (Bevington, 1998). Mostly, the foundation of this research lies within the fact that someone who was a writer for a living, left very little evidence of his life. For example, there are numerous plays that Shakespeare is given credit for which do not include any author’s name. Also, the plays that do include a name are hardly traceable to Shakespeare’s signature because the only “surviving examples of his handwriting are six scraggly signatures spelled several different ways” (Farouky, 2007). Was this man indeed responsible for all of these great works of literature? What was his life really like and was it what influenced these writings? As discussed by the biography by History.com “Some theorists have suggested that one or several authors wishing to conceal their true identity used the person of William Shakespeare as a front” (History Staff,
As Jumana Farouky stated on the TIME article depicting this controversy, “Doubter’s started questioning the true identity of the writer in the late 19th century” (Farouky, 2007). Some scholars believe that Shakespeare, the writer, failed to exist at all and that his work can be traced to multiple other authors. Derek Jacobi who is a well-known Shakespearian actor “unveiled a ‘Declaration of Reasonable Doubt’” in 2007 (Farouky, 2007). This declaration was created by an educational charity devoted for raising awareness of Shakespeare’s existence. The group has taken their research very seriously and have numerous backers. Intelligent and well respected men such as Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and Orson Welles have publicized their willingness to believe the notion that Shakespeare is a hoax (Bevington, 1998). Mostly, the foundation of this research lies within the fact that someone who was a writer for a living, left very little evidence of his life. For example, there are numerous plays that Shakespeare is given credit for which do not include any author’s name. Also, the plays that do include a name are hardly traceable to Shakespeare’s signature because the only “surviving examples of his handwriting are six scraggly signatures spelled several different ways” (Farouky, 2007). Was this man indeed responsible for all of these great works of literature? What was his life really like and was it what influenced these writings? As discussed by the biography by History.com “Some theorists have suggested that one or several authors wishing to conceal their true identity used the person of William Shakespeare as a front” (History Staff,