User:Nicoleplumridge/sandbox

Shakespeare Authorship Question
In Shakespeare Identified, published in 1920, J. Thomas Looney, an English schoolteacher, proposed Oxford as a candidate for the authorship of Shakespeare's works. His theory was based on perceived analogies between Oxford's life and poetic techniques in Shakespeare's plays and sonnets. It supplanted an earlier popular theory involving Francis Bacon. One of the reasons is that the poetry written by Edward de Vere is structurally similar to Shakespeare's writing, more so than that of Francis Bacon.

Academic consensus rejects all alternative candidates for authorship, including Oxford.

Shakespeare Vs. Edward de Vere Controversy
There is little evidence supporting the notion that William Shakespeare is in fact the author of all his famous literary works. There is a great mismatch between the man and his work. Shakespeare's writings are very sophisticated and cultured. However, Shakesepeare's background, education, family, friends, attitude toward money all contradict the aristocratic nature of his famous literary pieces. Furthermore, there is no documentation or records that can confidently prove that he is the author of his works. In addition to this, Shakespeare supposedly created his master pieces off the top of his head. He had no life experiences connecting him with his work. It would therefore make more sense for an aristocrat such as Edward de Vere to have written the works since he has a more solid connection with them and his personal life experiences.

Edward de Vere was born an aristocrat and had the aristocratic knowledge and education of the upper classes. He also had travelled to Italy in the 1570's which would have placed him in an ideal position to write the Merchant of Venice/Othello. Shakespeare, on the other hand, had never travelled to Italy; therefore, his rich descriptions must have been conjured up by that mystical element that characterizes him. Edward de Vere was also nicknamed "Spear-Shaker" at court to refer to his skilled ability in tournaments and because his coat of arms featured a lion brandishing a spear.

Psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud, carried out a psychoanalytical interpretation of the literary works supposedly written by Shakespeare and also concluded that it was highly unlikely for him to have written them and that Edward de Vere was a better match.

Problems for Edward de Vere
One of the main problems with Edward de Vere's claim to authorship is that he died in 1604. This is before the composition of twelve of Shakespeare's plays. However, the dating of Shakespeare's plays is quite sketchy. Another problem is that one of the reasons it has been claimed that Edward de Vere used a pseudonym was because at the time it was unacceptable for arisocrats to write plays; however, there are plenty of other aristocrats who actually used their real names to author their works. The only result was that they were frowned upon. There was no actual punishment was doled out to them.

Despite all of this extensive research into the issue, even if it is discovered that Edward de Vere or indeed some other aristocrat was responsible for all of these famous writings, many people still would not accept it. Many anti-Stratfordian's have been vilified as intellectual snobs. This may be because it is very difficult for people to re-create the image of Shakespeare into someone completely different.