Alias Shakespeare: Solving the Greatest Literary Mystery of All TimeFree Press, 1997 - 311 էջ Who wrote Shakespeare's plays? Today, the long-standing and impassioned debate about the so-called authorship question is perceived by Shakespearean scholars as the preserve of eccentrics and cranks. But in this contrarian work of literary detection, author Joseph Sobran boldly reopens this debate and allows the members of Shakespeare's vast contemporary public to weigh all the evidence and decide for themselves. An enormous shelf of biographical scholarship has grown up over the past 300 years around the "Swan of Avon". But what are these histories based on? Revealing that no more than a handful of fragmentary documents attest to Shakespeare's existence - and virtually none which link him to the plays themselves - Sobran delightfully debunks this elaborate egalitarian myth concocted in equal parts of speculation, wishfulness, and fantasy. More importantly, Sobran shows how many questions the myth leaves unanswered: How could a provincial actor from Stratford gain such an intimate knowledge of court life? How could he know so much of classical authors and not own a single book? How could he write compromising love sonnets to his social superior, the powerful Earl of Southampton? How could he know so much of Italy, a place he never visited? Why was there no notice of the famous writer's death in 1616? Why, in short, does Shakespeare remain such an obscure and shadowy figure? Methodically demolishing the case for "Mr. Shakspere", Sobran shows it is highly implausible that he wrote the poems and plays we know as The Works of William Shakespeare. Other candidates exist, of course, including Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe, and Francis Bacon. Sobran dispenses with these claimants, then sets forth the startlingly persuasive case for Edward de Vere, the seventeenth Earl of Oxford. Oxford was a widely traveled, classically educated member of the Elizabethan court. A swashbuckling spendthrift, he swung high and low in the eyes of his peers. Having spent most of his fortune on adventures in Italy and elsewhere on the Continent - like Hamlet he was captured by pirates in the English Channel - he fell into disrepute for reasons that included rumors about his homosexuality. Still he topped many lists of the best Elizabethan poets at the time, even ranking above Edmund Spenser and Sir Philip Sidney. He was an avid book collector, and a love of the literary arts ran in his family. His uncle not only pioneered the sonnet form that came to be known as Shakespearean, he also translated the English edition of Ovid that indisputably guided Shakespeare's pen. More strikingly, Oxford was the ward of Lord Burghley - the man widely acknowledged as the model for the character Polonius in Hamlet. Ultimately, Sobran shows us why a disgraced nobleman such as Oxford would have sought solace in the anonymity of writing pseudonymous plays and poetry. |
From inside the book
Արդյունքներ 70–ի 1-ից 3-ը:
Էջ 41
... never speaks in his own person ex- cept in the very private Sonnets and in his two dedications to Southampton . He is otherwise totally aloof from the literary give - and- take of his time . He never comments on public events ( with two ...
... never speaks in his own person ex- cept in the very private Sonnets and in his two dedications to Southampton . He is otherwise totally aloof from the literary give - and- take of his time . He never comments on public events ( with two ...
Էջ 67
... never left England , and it is generally agreed that he never went anywhere near Italy . For a long time it was assumed that Shake- speare knew Italy from books and from that great class - mixing institu- tion of miscellaneous learning ...
... never left England , and it is generally agreed that he never went anywhere near Italy . For a long time it was assumed that Shake- speare knew Italy from books and from that great class - mixing institu- tion of miscellaneous learning ...
Էջ 97
... never know . What is clear is that she was only a passing interest of the poet , who speaks of her with more contempt than love . He never idealizes her ; on the contrary , he regards her as a whore and despises himself for his ...
... never know . What is clear is that she was only a passing interest of the poet , who speaks of her with more contempt than love . He never idealizes her ; on the contrary , he regards her as a whore and despises himself for his ...
Բովանդակություն
The Authorship Debate | 1 |
THE SHAKESPEARE MYTH | 17 |
The Life of Mr Shakspere | 19 |
Հեղինակային իրավունք | |
13 այլ բաժինները չեն ցուցադրվում
Common terms and phrases
actors Anne anti-Stratfordian appears Bacon Bedingfield Ben Jonson biographers Burghley Burghley's Caesar comedy Coriolanus court dating daughter dead death dedicated doth doubt Earl of Oxford echoes Elegy Elizabeth Elizabethan English evidence eyes Folio Francis Meres grief Hamlet hath heart Henry Henry VI John Jonson King known later Lear literary live London Lord Lord Chamberlain's Men Macbeth Marlowe marry mention muse never orthodox Othello Oxford writes Oxford's letters phrase playwright poet poet's Polonius praise published queen Rape of Lucrece readers records refers Richard Richard II Romeo Rowse salve Samuel Schoenbaum says Schoenbaum scholars seems Shake Shakespeare's plays Shakspere Shrew Sidney Sonnet 18 Sonnet 20 Sonnet 36 Sonnets Southampton speak speare Spenser Stratford sweet tears tells Tempest theater thee Thomas Thorpe thou Timon Titus Troilus unto Venus and Adonis Vere verse William Shakespeare words written wrote young youth