#shakesper

In his time, he was championed as a playwright in his own right. Why would he write some plays under his own name, but be unwilling to be recognized for others?

Oxfordians refuse to use historical, scientific, logical, or literary scholarship/evidence in order to back up their opinions--because there isn’t any.

Oxfordians also misrepresent and distort the historical record, in order to frame Shakespeare as a fraud or a front, and present the wealthy Earl of Oxford as the real author of Shakespeare’s plays.

The Oxfordian theory is based on classism and snobbery--one of the major bases of the argument is that Shakespeare was not educated enough (in other words, too poor) to have written the plays attributed to him. Not only is this classist and stuck-up at best, but it makes no difference! Genius is genius is genius. Pablo Picasso came from a middle class family. Nikola Tesla was born to lower-middle class parents; the son of a priest and a craftswoman. A wealthy upbringing does not necessarily a genius make.

If Shakespeare were a fraud, he sure managed to fool a lot of people! It would have been nearly impossible to keep such a thing secret, as Shakespeare would have had to fool an entire company of actors, a large portion of the English theatregoing public, all of his donors and patrons, the Queen of England herself, and the entire court and noble gentry.

This part’s pretty compelling... Do you know when 12 of Shakespeare’s 37 plays were written, according to not only the entire company of actors and numerous publishers and scholars? After 1604. Do you know when Oxford died? In fucking 1604.

By julietteb on June 19, 2014

Quoting Shakespeare

To celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday, we’re featuring some of our favorite archival pieces about his life and work. This one was first published in July 2005. Happy Birthday, Bill!

After the horrors of this week, we could all use a little weekend palate cleanser. And who better to provide this Saturday summer sorbet than Britain’s own immortal Bard, a writer who dealt with all the darkness of the human soul but also brilliantly celebrated the light and tickled our fancy?

The following bit of Shakespearean amusement was concocted by my great friend Bernard Levin, who passed away last year. It was recited to perfection by Michael York at a dinner in Aspen given by Lynda and Stewart Resnick in honor of all the speakers at the Aspen Institute’s Ideas Festival. After York’s rendition, the party erupted with requests (including one from Arthur Schlesinger) for copies of what York had just read. So instead of running out to Kinko’s, I’ve decided to post it here so that he — and all of you — can have it to download, print out, e-mail, link to… and enjoy.

If you cannot understand my argument, and declare ‘It’s Greek to me’, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you claim to be more sinned against than sinning, you are quoting Shakespeare; if you recall your salad days, you are quoting Shakespeare;