A point to ponder

[ksmith]

Why are some folks so determined to prove that Will Shakespeare didn't write the plays attributed to him, or had help, or fronted for a nobleman? Is it a class issue, a refusal to accept that a man from comparatively humble beginnings could write so well? Is it just something to do?

Listened to NPR on the way to the store this morning, and heard part of an interview with Mark Anderson, the author of "Shakespeare by Another Name: The Life of Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, the Man Who Was Shakespeare." Anderson felt that the similarities between de Vere's life and relationships in frex Hamlet (the relationships between Polonius, Ophelia, and Hamlet) and King Lear (deVere's period of destitution) indicate that he played a major role in the writing of the plays. I missed the next interview with the guy who demolished that argument.

Is it because humans love a conspiracy theory? Because they feel some things are too great to have been accomplished by one man?

Comments

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Except that if it were the Earl of Oxford, someone would no doubt have the theory that he'd stolen it all from some poor unrespected (but professional) player, maybe that guy Will Shakespeare.

I have no doubt this would be the case.