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Shakespeare authorship question

Nowadays everyone knows a person like Shakespeare. It’s strange to hear a

negative answer to the question "Do you know who is William Shakespear?".

Known all over the world love story of Romeo and Juliet, no less popular Macbeth

and Hamlet.

But when studying Shakespeare's biography, I’ve found a very strange fact: no

manuscript work has survived. How is this even possible? The greatest English

playwright bequeathed after the death to his wife only beds, not works? He did not

leave a single confirmation of his creativity to his descendants. And what if today

we will not discuss the story of a poor boy who received modest education, but

wrote dozens of great masterpieces? What if we consider Shakespeare's question

known to many philologists and literary scholars?

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William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He was an English

poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English

language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's

national poet. His extant works consist of approximately 38 plays, 154 sonnets and

two long narrative poems. His plays have been translated into every major living

language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

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The Shakespeare authorship question is the argument that someone other than

William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon wrote the works attributed to him.

Anti-Stratfordians—a collective term for adherents of the various alternative-

authorship theories—believe that Shakespeare of Stratford was a front to shield the

identity of the real author or authors, who for some reason did not want or could

not accept public credit.

One of the proofs of his theory is that there are no any official documents of

Shakespeare's education, but the vocabulary of his works varies from 17,000 to

29,000 words, and they also show deep knowledge of history and literature. Since

there is no a single manuscript written by Shakespeare's hand was preserved,

opponents of the traditional version concluded that his literary career had been

falsified.

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Shakespeare's authorship was first questioned in the middle of the 19th century,

when adulation of Shakespeare as the greatest writer of all time had become

widespread. Shakespeare's biography, particularly his humble origins and obscure

life, seemed incompatible with his poetic eminence and his reputation for genius,

arousing suspicion that Shakespeare might not have written the works attributed to

him. The controversy has since spawned a vast body of literature, and more than

80 authorship candidates have been proposed, the most popular being Edward de

Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford and William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby.

Supporters of alternative candidates argue that theirs is the more plausible author,

and that William Shakespeare lacked the education, aristocratic sensibility, or

familiarity with the royal court that is apparent in the works. But there is no such

direct evidence exists for any other candidate, and Shakespeare's authorship was

not questioned during his lifetime or for centuries after his death.

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Attention to the Shakespearean issue in Russian culture appearanced in the 1920s.

The author of the most popular Russian-language work about Shakespeare

authorship question is Ilya Gililov, whose book "The William Shakespeare Game,

or The Mystery of the Great Phoenix", it was published in 1997 aroused interest

and resonance among specialists; At the same time, it met a number of negative

reviews in Russia, and after the release of the English translation - abroad. As the

writers under the literary Shakespearian mask Gililov refers to the 5th Earl of

Rattland and Elizabeth Sidney, Countess Rutland, daughter of the English poet

Philip Sidney.

Gililov's book was followed by some other works. So, in 2003 Sergey Stepanov's

book "Shakespeare's sonnets, or game in the game", where on the basis of his own

translation, the author proved that Shakespeare's sonnets is a correspondence

between Rattland and his wife Elizabeth Sidney.

In 2008, the book of the translator Marina Litvinova "Justification of Shakespeare"

was published, where the author defended the version that Shakespeare's works

were created by Bacon.

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It’s hardly to say that this dispute will be resolved in the near future. Perhaps we

will get new evidence of Shakespeare's authorship. These can be genuine

manuscripts, finally declared, or facts that could restore the life of a playwright.

William Shakespeare is still a mystery to us, therefore, the Shakespearean question

is still relevant. To be or not to be William the author of genius pieces known to the

whole world? This question is likely to rise for a long time. He only fosters interest

to the playwright's works. One of the most interesting in the literature is the

Shakespearean question. What is it, you know now. The mystery of the genius's

personality, we hope, will someday be revealed.