Shakespeare Authorship

Serious doubts on the authorship of Shakespeare’s plays are the result of a lack of understanding and information we have about him. Despite writing thirty-seven plays, there remains no record of Shakespeare ever owning a book, and no letters sent to or from him have ever been found. He wrote a very detailed will, mentioning most of his household items, but did not include any books or plays. Desks, paper, pens, or anything that he could have used to write were also not included. This raises suspension on how he was able to write so many great plays without owning anything literary or having an adequate work space. Only six records of Shakespeare’s handwriting have ever been found, all on legal documents in almost illegible handwriting. …show more content…
Sir Francis Bacon is a candidate for the authorship of Shakespeare’s plays. He was educated and graduated from Cambridge University. He had information on the law, and was the Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under Queen Elizabeth and King James. He was fascinated by mythology and traveled all throughout Europe. Bacon was also a poet and he was known for bringing philosophy and drama together. His name was found along with Shakespeare’s in a document called the “Northumberland Manuscript” that was discovered in the house of the Duke of Northumberland in 1867. This connects him with Shakespeare and shows they could have been possibly affiliated with each other. Mark Twain believed that Francis Bacon was the author of the Shakespearian plays. He wrote Is Shakespeare Dead? in 1909 based on his concerns on Shakespeare’s authorship and the possibility that Bacon could have been the real author. Another possible author of Shakespeare’s plays was Christopher Marlowe. He also attended and received a degree from the Cambridge University. He was a spy for the Queen’s spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham which gave insider knowledge and access to powerful people. He was the first person to translate Ovid’s Amores into English, and also translated Lucan’s epic poem, Pharsalia. Marlowe wrote “the …show more content…
In this theory, multiple people would have collaborated to write the plays, all bringing more knowledge and insight. Throughout the late sixteenth century and early seventeenth century, it was common for playwrights to work together on projects. Working with a group is more efficient and each person can add background information and different perspectives to make a play better and complete it faster. Collaboration was a new discovery of authors during this time to make even greater plays and other works. The theory of multiple creators could help to explain the complexity of the Shakespearian plays. Shakespeare’s classic plays included a wide range of information that would have been close to impossible for him to learn without a college education. This included foreign languages, royal court, law, naval expertise, European travels, noble sports, and allusions to powerful people. A group of people would have had access to more access to more knowledge on these topics. They would have also been able to complete thirty-seven plays a lot faster than one person alone could, especially considering the prestige of Shakespeare’s plays. Delia Bacon published the first book based on the authorship of Shakespeare’s plays in 1857 called The Philosophy of the Plays of Shakespeare Unfolded. It offered the group theory including Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Bacon,

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