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... liam Shakespeare. From this book sparked a wildfire of debate surrounding the issue of authorship, creating passionate supporters on either side of the issue. The Oxfordians, as de Vere's many supporters are known, have long ago established their own society and remain dedicate to the cause of proving his authorship.
In 1975, the Encyclopedia Britannica (15 th edition) commented that, Edward de Vere became in the 20 th century the strongest candidate proposed for the authorship of Shakespeare's plays (Shakespeare-Oxford). This guy seems to be a contender. The evidence supporting the Earl of Oxford is arguably strong. Whomever wrote the varied works of Shakespeare had to be familiar with a enormous body of knowledge for his time, including such subjects as law, music, foreign languages, the classics, sports and aristocratic manners.
There is no documentation of Shakespeare of Stratford having access to such information (Shakespeare-Oxford). Also, when de Vere was a young man, he spent much time traveling, particularly in Italy, which could explain the great detail used in the Shakespearean plays of Venice, as well as other European locations outside of England. There are no records of the Queen ever granting passage to Shakespeare, or Shakespeare, for travels abroad. Extremely strong evidence in favor of the Oxfordian theory is the acutely accurate knowledge of the inner court circles, as well as the political dealings within the monarchy. Throughout plays depicting royal families, such as King Richard and Hamlet, many inside conspiracies, jokes, and hidden knowledge of family disputes are riddled throughout the dialogues. These things were not common knowledge at the time, and only someone inside of the court could have been able to include it in the plays in such subtle ways.
The true author must also have had intimate knowledge of some rare great works of literature. Works such as Venus and Adonis indicate not only knowledge of Golding's translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses, but of the original as well, since Venus and Adonis translates many of Ovid's lines omitted by Golding. Heres the tie-in to de Vere: Arthur Golding was the Earl of Oxfords uncle and lived in the Cecil household during the time that de Vere was a ward of Cecil's. Golding also dedicated two of his other translations to the 17 th Earl of Oxford (Shakespeare-Oxford). During the period that one of Edward de Vere's daughters was betrothed to marry the Earl of Southampton, Shakespeare's epic poems, Venus and Adonis and Lucrece, first appeared bearing a dedication to the Earl of Southampton. According to many scholars, Midsummer Nights Dream first graced the stage at another of de Vere's daughters weddings (Van Duyn).
In a 1589 book of poetry and poets, there is a mysterious reference to men of the court who have suffered it to be published without their own names to it and goes on to mention Edward de Vere as the best of these courtier poets if only his doings would be found out and made public with the rest. When Oxford passed away in 1604, King James had eight Shakespeare plays produced at court as a final tribute. When his widow died nine years later, fourteen Shakespeare plays were produced in tribute. Then in 1623, when two brothers put Shakespeare's First Folio together, one of the men happened to be de Vere's son-in-law. There are also many similarities between the works of Shakespeare and the life of de Vere. For example, in 1573 de Vere and several of his friends would play pranks and tricks on travelers along the same road between Rochester and Gravesend where prince Hals companions from the Boars Head Tavern did likewise in Henry IV, Part 1. (As a side note, its interesting that the Vere family crest featured a boars head on it. ) Another more obvious example is the striking similarities between Hamlet and the actual life of the Earl of Oxford.
Its practically an autobiography. Scholars have agreed that William Cecil inspired the character of Polonius, and the death of the King quickly followed by the Queens marriage reflects de Vere's own parental circumstances. The similarities also exist in the Shakespearean Sonnets as well. In Sonnet 37 and 66 he speaks of a frustrating lameness, not once, but several times. William Shakespeare might have been many things, but nowhere has it been documented that he was injured in a way that would have rendered him lame. On the other hand, de Vere was involved in a knife fight with a man named Knives who was seeking revenge on an illegitimately borne child by his cousin Ann Vavasour.
The fight did produce a gaping wound on de Vere's leg, and the illegitimate child created a temporary fall from the Queens grace and time served in the Tower of London. The most recent and compelling evidence that has been found supporting the Earl of Oxford lies in the studies of a graduate student Roger Stritmatter. He has spent the last five years researching the Shakespeare authorship question, and in the process discovered de Vere's hand-annotated copy of the bible. It contains more than a hundred verses marked by de Vere that are also recognized by scholars today as primary biblical references in Shakespeare's work. For instance, In Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 3, hamlet states that He took my father grossly, full of bread.
The words full of bread have long been recognized by scholars as a reference to Ezekiel chapter 16, verse 49. Over a span of over 300 verses in the book of Ezekiel, he marks only one: Ezekiel 16: 49. Another example is in King Henry IV, Part Two, the character Falstaff delivers the insult whoreson Achitophel! This is a direct reference to II Samuel 16: 23, which de Vere underlined. In The Merry Wives of Windsor Falstaff brags, I fear not Goliath with a weavers beam.
Not only is has de Vere marked the scriptural source; he also underlined the words weavers beam within the biblical verse (Van Duyn). Granted, quoting Jesus from the scriptures is not exactly remarkable, but these are not common scriptures- they are ones that are arcane. Its beyond coincidence. Ironically, his bible was found in the great Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, and has been there since 1925.
While it might be easy for many to accept Edward de Vere's authorship of the Shakespearean works, the more difficult question to answer is why he wouldnt sign his own name to the works. Many theories exist regarding this, one of which is that the subject matter in his works (killing a king and queen, for example) made it necessary to distance the writer from the work. Another is that it was unacceptable for courtiers to produce written works, so he paid Shakespeare to allow him to use his name on de Vere's manuscripts. Alas, this is a small but important fact that we will probably never know. But there again lies the beauty of the Shakespeare mystery. Although the subject of the true authorship of Shakespeare's literature will probably never be laid to rest, it will always contribute to the enjoyment of studying his work.
Students of the subject are compelled to read and re-read the plays and sonnets in an attempt to gain a better understanding of who was holding the pen. Debates involving fact and fiction keep the name Shakespeare in constant movement, reminding us that we have not outgrown him, not even after four hundred years. The writing of Shakespeare, whomever Shakespeare is, is a gift for us to continue unwrapping, and pass down to our children to appreciate as well. One must hope that the mystery will never be solved, so that it may never lose its magic. WORKS CITED Charters, Ann.
The Story and Its Writer. 5 th ed. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martins, 1999. Mowat, Barbara A. and Werstine, Paul, ed. A Midsummer Nights Dream The New Folger Library.
New York: Washington Square Press, 1993. Shakespeare Oxford Society. 27 Jun. 2001. < web >> Duyn, Barbara. Edward de Vere, 17 th Earl of Oxford. 5 Aug. 2000. web > All Shakespeare. Allstudyguides.
com. < web >>
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Research essay sample on The True Authorship Of Shakespearean Works
