Conspiracy Theory of the Month

The Shakespeare Authorship Debate

Did William Shakespeare, uneducated peasant from Stratford-upon-Avon, write the astounding literary works attributed to his name?

What? Why is this even in doubt? Did you know that this was a raging controversy that has been debated for hundreds of years?

There are basically two camps: The Stratfordians who believe that William Shakespeare was William Shakespeare and all the stories/poems/sonnets are his and the Anti-Stratfordians who believe otherwise.

Writing between 1589 and 1613, over 150 sonnets, several poems and 38 plays are attributed to William Shakespeare. He is considered the greatest English language writer ever. His plays have been translated into every language on Earth are the most performed of any playwright. He is beyond doubt the most famous writer that ever lived.

But did the man, William Shakespeare, actor and owner of a theater company write the thought-provoking, intelligent works that only a literate man well versed in language, literature, politics, law, medicine, astronomy and foreign languages and culture could have?

The Facts:
* Everything published as William Shakespeare was done so years after W.S. had died.
* The first published writings were attributed to the "Swan of Avon", not Will.
* Six of W.S.'s signatures have been found and not one spells or matches the word Shakespeare.
* The hypenated version of the signature - Shakes-Peare - is a clue that it may have been authored by more than one person, as it was common for a hyphen to mean so in those days.
* The bible contains over 6,000 different words. The works of Shakespeare contain over 29,000. An astounding, astounding fact, in which, scholars have been pouring over for the last 400 years. Only a man of higher learning could have access to such a diverse and expansive lexicon.
* His will mentions nothing of books, plays, the written word, nor his shares in the Theatres he partly owned.
* He owned NOT ONE book at the time of his death. NOT ONE.
* No correspondence written by him has ever been found. Not one note or letter.
* He was a glove maker's son and no one to this day can explain how he would have such intimate knowledge of gentry or nobility or the higher classes. Not to mention geographical knowledge of like, say, Venice?
* It was common in those days (the Elizabethan Period) for nobility to write under assumed names.
* It was never proven that W.S. had any education at all (this was the 1600's) and nothing whatsoever to prove he had a higher education. In fact, his wife and daughter were illiterate as women of this time era and place were afforded no education (and in fact were treated brutally and had no rights).

Debates over the authorship question started 150 years after his death (1616) and continue to this day. There are the Baconians who firmly believe that Sir Francis Bacon is the author. The Oxfordians who believe it was the Earl of Oxford. The Marlovians are behind Christopher Marlow, whose great play, Dr. Faustus, was produced in London. There is another candidate (amongst others) named Fulke Greville, an Elizabethan contemporary.

Any one of the above candidates is a good choice. Each in his own way, had the money, knowledge and wherewithal, to compose the Shakespearean works. Very good arguments have been made on behalf of the above. Numerous books have been written arguing for any and all of them. Several notable people throughout history have been on the bandwagon. Namely Walt Whitman amongst others.

Fact Check Update:
An astute Omni Report reader has correctly pointed out that indeed at least 2 plays if not more of his work WERE in fact, published during the period attributed to W.S's lifetime. That is, plays and poems were in print before the 1616 date of his death. We stand corrected.