De Vere as Shakespeare: An Oxfordian Reading of the CanonThe question may be met with chagrin by traditionalists, but the identity of the Bard is not definitely decided. During the 20th century, Edward de Vere, the most flamboyant of the courtier poets, a man of the theater and literary patron, became the leading candidate for an alternative Shakespeare. This text presents the controversial argument for de Vere's authorship of the plays and poems attributed to Shakespeare, offering the available historical evidence and moreover the literary evidence to be found within the works. Divided into sections on the comedies and romances, the histories and the tragedies and poems, this fresh study closely analyzes each of the 39 plays and the sonnets in light of the Oxfordian authorship theory. The vagaries surrounding Shakespeare, including the lack of information about him during his lifetime, especially relating to the "lost years" of 1585-1592, are also analyzed, to further the question of Shakespeare's true identity and the theory of de Vere as the real Bard. |
From inside the book
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... literary works and as dramas embodied by living actors engaged in a collaborative process of interpreting and communicating. Multiple meanings ripple outward through audiences. While latitude for interpretation surely contributes to the ...
... literary biography; to question this holy relic invites hostility. It is far easier to be a true believer—all a great writer needs is genius and “will” power. One ridiculous theory on how the Bard acquired his education is that he ...
... literary classic. How could this son of a tanner who failed at everything—except Civil War generalship and marital relations—have produced such an extraordinary masterpiece?6 Many wondered and doubted, claiming that the true author may ...
... literary talent until he was more than twice that age, assuming he was in fact the author of Venus and Adonis. Shakespeare's contemporary Montaigne, writing about human genius in his essay On the Length of Life, quotes the French ...
... literary biography is irrelevant. After all, many great writers were not great human beings, but this should not detract from our appreciation of their accomplishments. Therefore, we should focus solely on the text. On the other hand ...
Contents
1 | |
5 | |
17 | |
Histories | 103 |
Tragedies and Poems | 157 |
Conclusion | 237 |
Notes | 241 |
Bibliography | 263 |
Index | 265 |