Shakespeare Wrote Shakespeare

Author : James Shapiro
Publisher : Faber & Faber
Page : 380 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2011-09-19
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9780571258697

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Contested Will by James Shapiro Pdf

For two hundred years after William Shakespeare's death, no one thought to argue that somebody else had written his plays. Since then dozens of rival candidates - including The Earl of Oxford, Sir Francis Bacon and Christopher Marlowe - have been proposed as their true author. Contested Will unravels the mystery of when and why so many people began to question whether Shakespeare wrote the plays (among them such leading writers and artists as Sigmund Freud, Henry James, Mark Twain, Helen Keller, Orson Welles, and Sir Derek Jacobi) Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro's fascinating search for the source of this controversy retraces a path strewn with fabricated documents, calls for trials, false claimants, concealed identity, bald-faced deception and a failure to grasp what could not be imagined. If Contested Will does not end the authorship question once and for all, it will nonetheless irrevocably change the nature of the debate by confronting what's really contested: are the plays and poems of Shakespeare autobiographical, and if so, do they hold the key to the question of who wrote them? '[Shapiro] writes erudite, undumbed-down history that . . . reads as fluidly as a good novel.' David Mitchell, the Guardian.

Author : John Michell
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 272 pages
File Size : 45,7 Mb
Release : 1999
Category : Drama
ISBN : 0500281130

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Who Wrote Shakespeare? by John Michell Pdf

Reprinted from 1st pbk. ed., published in 1999. Originally published in hardcover in 1996.

Author : Margo Anderson
Publisher : Untreed Reads
Page : 667 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2011-11-04
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9781611871784

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Shakespeare by Another Name by Margo Anderson Pdf

The debate over the true author of the Shakespeare canon has raged for centuries. Astonishingly little evidence supports the traditional belief that Will Shakespeare, the actor and businessman from Stratford-upon-Avon, was the author. Legendary figures such as Mark Twain, Walt Whitman and Sigmund Freud have all expressed grave doubts that an uneducated man who apparently owned no books and never left England wrote plays and poems that consistently reflect a learned and well-traveled insider's perspective on royal courts and the ancient feudal nobility. Recent scholarship has turned to Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford-an Elizabethan court playwright known to have written in secret and who had ample means, motive and opportunity to in fact have assumed the "Shakespeare" disguise. "Shakespeare" by Another Name is the literary biography of Edward de Vere as "Shakespeare." This groundbreaking book tells the story of de Vere's action-packed life-as Renaissance man, spendthrift, courtier, wit, student, scoundrel, patron, military adventurer, and, above all, prolific ghostwriter-finding in it the background material for all of The Bard's works. Biographer Mark Anderson incorporates a wealth of new evidence, including de Vere's personal copy of the Bible (in which de Vere underlines scores of passages that are also prominent Shakespearean biblical references).

Author : Robin Williams
Publisher : Peachpit Press
Page : 406 pages
File Size : 44,7 Mb
Release : 2006-03-15
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9780132797771

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Sweet Swan of Avon by Robin Williams Pdf

It is long overdue that someone took a closer look at the brilliant Mary Sidney. I have a suspicion that Mary Sidney’s life, and especially her dedication to the English language after her brother’s death, may throw important light on the mysterious authorship of the Shakespeare plays and poems. —Mark Rylance Actor; Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, 1996–2006; Chairman of the Shakespearean Authorship Trust For more than two hundred years, a growing number of researchers have questioned whether the man named William Shakespeare actually wrote the works attributed to him. There is no paper trail for William Shakespeare—no record that he was ever paid for writing, nothing in his handwriting but a few signatures on legal documents, no evidence of his presence in the royal court except as an actor in his later years, no confirmation of his involvement in the literary circles of the time. With so little information about this man—and even less evidence connecting him to the plays and sonnets—what can and what can’t we assume about the author of the greatest works of the English language? For the first time, Robin P. Williams presents an in-depth inquiry into the possibility that Mary Sidney Herbert, the Countess of Pembroke, wrote the works attributed to the man named William Shakespeare. As well educated as Queen Elizabeth I, this woman was at the forefront of the literary movement in England, yet not allowed to write for the public stage. But that’s just the beginning . . . The first question I am asked by curious freshmen in my Shakespeare course is always, “Who wrote these plays anyway?” Now, because of Robin Williams’ rigorous scholarship and artful sleuthing, Mary Sidney Herbert will forever have to be mentioned as a possible author of the Shakespeare canon. Sweet Swan of Avon doesn’t pretend to put the matter to rest, but simply shows how completely reasonable the authorship controversy is, and how the idea of a female playwright surprisingly answers more Shakespearean conundrums than it creates... —Cynthia Lee Katona Professor of Shakespeare and Women’s Studies, Ohlone College; Author of Book Savvy

Author : William Leahy
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 190 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2015-03-17
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9781441148360

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Shakespeare and His Authors by William Leahy Pdf

The Shakespeare Authorship question - the question of who wrote Shakespeare's plays and who the man we know as Shakespeare was - is a subject which fascinates millions of people the world over and can be seen as a major cultural phenomenon. However, much discussion of the question exists on the very margins of academia, deemed by most Shakespearean academics as unimportant or, indeed, of interest only to conspiracy theorists. Yet, many academics find the Authorship question interesting and worthy of analysis in theoretical and philosophical terms. This collection brings together leading literary and cultural critics to explore the Authorship question as a social, cultural and even theological phenomenon and consider it in all its rich diversity and significance.

Author : Louis B. Wright
Publisher : Associated University Presse
Page : 324 pages
File Size : 52,9 Mb
Release : 1978-07
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 091801655X

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Folger Library, Two Decades of Growth by Louis B. Wright Pdf

Author : James Shapiro
Publisher : Harper Collins
Page : 620 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 2009-10-13
Category : History
ISBN : 9780061840906

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A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare by James Shapiro Pdf

Winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize’s 25th Anniversary Winner of Winners award What accounts for Shakespeare’s transformation from talented poet and playwright to one of the greatest writers who ever lived? In this gripping account, James Shapiro sets out to answer this question, "succeed[ing] where others have fallen short." (Boston Globe) 1599 was an epochal year for Shakespeare and England. During that year, Shakespeare wrote four of his most famous plays: Henry the Fifth, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, and, most remarkably, Hamlet; Elizabethans sent off an army to crush an Irish rebellion, weathered an Armada threat from Spain, gambled on a fledgling East India Company, and waited to see who would succeed their aging and childless queen. James Shapiro illuminates both Shakespeare’s staggering achievement and what Elizabethans experienced in the course of 1599, bringing together the news and the intrigue of the times with a wonderful evocation of how Shakespeare worked as an actor, businessman, and playwright. The result is an exceptionally immediate and gripping account of an inspiring moment in history.

Author : Stephen Greenblatt
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
Page : 441 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2010-05-03
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780393079845

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Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare (Anniversary Edition) by Stephen Greenblatt Pdf

Named One of Esquire's 50 Best Biographies of All Time The Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist, reissued with a new afterword for the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. A young man from a small provincial town moves to London in the late 1580s and, in a remarkably short time, becomes the greatest playwright not of his age alone but of all time. How is an achievement of this magnitude to be explained? Stephen Greenblatt brings us down to earth to see, hear, and feel how an acutely sensitive and talented boy, surrounded by the rich tapestry of Elizabethan life, could have become the world’s greatest playwright.

Author : John Milnes Baker
Publisher : Urlink Print & Media, LLC
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 2023-12-05
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 1684866278

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The Case for Edward de Vere as the Real William Shakespeare by John Milnes Baker Pdf

The Shakespeare Authorship Question has been the subject of heated debate for generations. This concise introduction to the controversy challenges the conventional narrative that Will Shakspere of Stratfordupon- Avon was the author of the works of William Shakespeare. Anyone with natural curiosity will find the case for Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, as the real William Shakespeare a fascinating subject for further investigation. The Clarion Review stated: The book's objective is not to examine every aspect of the de Vere theory in detail, but to condense that material and present its essentials. In service of accomplishing that goal, it includes a thorough list of references and additional reading suggestions for those interested in learning more. "To ask Shakespeare scholars to research the authorship is like asking the College of Cardinals to honestly research the Resurrection." --- Robin Fox, PhD, professor of social theory, Rutgers University

Author : William Shakespeare
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 384 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 1808
Category : Electronic
ISBN : NYPL:33433074900105

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The Plays of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare Pdf

Author : William Shakespeare
Publisher : Wordsworth Editions
Page : 1290 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 1996
Category : Drama
ISBN : 185326895X

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The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare Pdf

Gathers all of Shakespeare's plays, sonnets, and poems.

Author : William Joseph Raddatz
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 1921
Category : Electronic
ISBN : UCAL:B5310768

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Shakespeare Wrote Shakespeare by William Joseph Raddatz Pdf

Author : James Shapiro
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 48 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2011-08-23
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781451668384

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Who Wrote Shakespeare? by James Shapiro Pdf

This ebook is an excerpt from Contested Will by James Shapiro, and originally appeared as the last section titled "Shakespeare." In this chapter, Shapiro succintly and eloquently makes the case for why no one else but Shakespeare could have written Shakespeare's plays.

Author : Mark Twain
Publisher : Library of Alexandria
Page : 70 pages
File Size : 47,8 Mb
Release : 2020-09-28
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781613100417

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Is Shakespeare Dead? by Mark Twain Pdf

ÊIs Shakespeare Dead? is a short, semi-autobiographical work by American humorist Mark Twain. It explores the controversy over the authorship of the Shakespearean literary canon via satire, anecdote, and extensive quotation of contemporary authors on the subject. Ê The original publication spans only 150 pages, and the formatting leaves roughly half of each page blank. The spine is thread bound. It was published in April 1909 by Harper & Brothers, twelve months before Mark Twain's death. Ê The book attracted controversy for incorporating a chapter from The Shakespeare Problem Restated by George Greenwood without permission or proper credit, an oversight Twain blamed on the accidental omission of a footnote by the printer. Ê The book has been described as "one of his least well received and most misunderstood works". Although she admits that Twain appears to have been sincere in his beliefs concerning Shakespeare, Karen Lystra argues that the essay reveals satirical intentions that went beyond the ShakespeareÑBacon controversy of the time. Ê Though it is commonly assumed to be nothing more than a stale and embarrassing rehash of the Shakespeare-Bacon controversy, Twain was up to something more than flimsy literary criticism. He was using the debate over Shakespeare's real identity to satirize prejudice, intolerance, and self-importanceÑin himself as well as others.... But after his passionate diatribe against the "Stratfordolators" and his vigorous support of the Baconians, he cheerfully admits that both sides are built on inference. Leaving no doubt about his satirical intent, Twain then gleefully subverts his entire argument. After seeming to be a serious, even angry, combatant, he denies that he intended to convince anyone that Shakespeare was not the real author of his works. "It would grieve me to know that any one could think so injuriously of me, so uncomplimentarily, so unadmiringly of me," he writes mockingly. "Would I be so soft as that, after having known the human race familiarly for nearly seventy-four years?" We get our beliefs at second hand, he explains, "we reason none of them out for ourselves. It is the way we are made." Twain has set a trapÑan elaborate joke at the expense of what he scornfully refers to as the "Reasoning Race." He is satirizing the need to win an argument when it is virtually impossible to convince anyone to change sides in almost any debate. His excessive rhetoric of attack is obviously absurdÑcalling the other side "thugs," for exampleÑyet it has been taken at face value.

Author : John Casson,William D. Rubinstein
Publisher : Amberley Publishing Limited
Page : 320 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2016-04-15
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9781445654676

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Sir Henry Neville Was Shakespeare by John Casson,William D. Rubinstein Pdf

Who really wrote the plays of Shakespeare?