A Note on Controversy...
We are all taught about Shakespeare's plays, his life, and his achievements, but we are never taught about who Shakespeare really is! There is much controversy surrounding Shakespeare's true identity. Some believe the man called William Shakespeare could not have written these complex plays consisting of amazing language. Why?
Well....
- Shakespeare's father and children could not read or write, so why could he?
- In Stratford-upon-Avon, the only records of his profession described him as a businessman
- None of the manuscripts for his plays are in Shakespere's own handwriting
- No manuscripts were found in his home
_ The only solid evidence linking the businessman to the playwrite is the name; William Shakespere
DID YOU KNOW ? There are only six surviving signatures of Shakespere, and they are all spelled differently!
Professor Calvin Hoffman has researched into the true identity of William Shakespere, and has discovered that Shakespere's writing style is identical to another Elizabethian playwrite named Christopher Marlowe. How did he know this ? Well, Prof. Hoffman has disccovered that if you study the way a certain writer uses words, you can identify the writer! The only flaw with the Marlovian theory is that Marlowe was brutally murdered six months before Shakespere's first play was published.
There are two popular theories. Choose which one you think happened . . .
EXECUTION THEORY
Christopher Marlowe was in trouble. He had been accused of writing something that stated that Jesus was not the son of god. In Elizabethian England, this was a huge crime. Marlowe was to be hanged. Sir Thomas Walsingham, a rich noble who worked for Qeen Elizabeth, did not want to get involved. He sent his assasins to murder Marlowe. They got away with it!
ESCAPE THEORY
Sir Thomas Walsingham was a good friend of Marlowe. He didn't want him to be put to death. Walsingham made sure that Marlowe was safely out of the area before sending his assasins to kill 'Marlowe'. In fact, it wasn't Marlowe at all. This fake Marlowe was buried.
If you were a sucsesful playwrite, and you wanted to earn income, you would want to continue to write plays, wouldn't you ?
If Marlowe had wanted to write plays, he would have had to give them to someone else to publish under his name, because he was meant to be dead. So, he handed them over to a young businessman who went by the name of William Shakespere...
Well....
- Shakespeare's father and children could not read or write, so why could he?
- In Stratford-upon-Avon, the only records of his profession described him as a businessman
- None of the manuscripts for his plays are in Shakespere's own handwriting
- No manuscripts were found in his home
_ The only solid evidence linking the businessman to the playwrite is the name; William Shakespere
DID YOU KNOW ? There are only six surviving signatures of Shakespere, and they are all spelled differently!
Professor Calvin Hoffman has researched into the true identity of William Shakespere, and has discovered that Shakespere's writing style is identical to another Elizabethian playwrite named Christopher Marlowe. How did he know this ? Well, Prof. Hoffman has disccovered that if you study the way a certain writer uses words, you can identify the writer! The only flaw with the Marlovian theory is that Marlowe was brutally murdered six months before Shakespere's first play was published.
There are two popular theories. Choose which one you think happened . . .
EXECUTION THEORY
Christopher Marlowe was in trouble. He had been accused of writing something that stated that Jesus was not the son of god. In Elizabethian England, this was a huge crime. Marlowe was to be hanged. Sir Thomas Walsingham, a rich noble who worked for Qeen Elizabeth, did not want to get involved. He sent his assasins to murder Marlowe. They got away with it!
ESCAPE THEORY
Sir Thomas Walsingham was a good friend of Marlowe. He didn't want him to be put to death. Walsingham made sure that Marlowe was safely out of the area before sending his assasins to kill 'Marlowe'. In fact, it wasn't Marlowe at all. This fake Marlowe was buried.
If you were a sucsesful playwrite, and you wanted to earn income, you would want to continue to write plays, wouldn't you ?
If Marlowe had wanted to write plays, he would have had to give them to someone else to publish under his name, because he was meant to be dead. So, he handed them over to a young businessman who went by the name of William Shakespere...