Did William Shakespeare write the plays and sonnets of William Shakespeare? Yes, he did but perhaps with an asterisk.
But many influential people within the serious arts community don’t think so or, at least, aren’t sure. Their central argument against his authorship is that the known William Shakespeare was a commoner who never left England so how could he possibly have understood the arcane practices of the English hoi paloi, never mind the intricate folkways and mores of Italy? Impossible, they say or improbable.
There have been a spate of books in recent years delving into this mystery and offering probable alternatives, everyone from the Earl of Oxford to Christopher Marlowe to nobleman Edward de Vere and Francis Bacon.
But many suggest, as does this BBC article Actors question Bard’s authorship that no one person could possibly have written the works of Shakespeare, that would have been literally and literarily superhuman; Shakespeare must have been a composite.
Almost 300 people have signed a “declaration of reasonable doubt”, which they hope will prompt further research into the issue. The group has given a copy to Dr William Leahy, head of English at London’s Brunel University and convenor of the first MA in Shakespeare authorship studies, to be launched later this month. He will champion the cause to disclose the truth: “It’s a legitimate question, it has a mystery at its centre and intellectual discussion will bring us closer to that centre. That’s not to say we will answer anything, that’s not the point. It is, of course, to question.”
Humanism has at its core the believe that man is capable of all things. To many, Shakespeare was that core, his brilliance was a beacon to all by shining a spotlight on human potential. We are all enriched by the genius of a few.
It will be a black day if ever it is authoritatively announced that Shakespeare was a sham, a chimera, that the real author was the London Eight who convened regularly in the Ox and Bull to down ale and swap imaginings while a scribe took careful notes. We will all be diminished.
So think of this renewal of the controversy as just another example of the Tall Poppy Syndrome. The effete never liked Homer and occasionally take him on as a fraud. Really, it’s the ultimate compliment.
