Shakespeare - Authorship

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13). During this time, De Vere also began writing several poems and plays. Much like Samuel Clemens, who wrote under the name of Mark Twain, Oxford adopted the pseudonym Shakespeare. Soon after plays appeared under the name of "Shakespeare," poems by de Vere ceased (Russell 5). Coincidently, the coat of arms of Lord Bulbeck, a third title of Edward de Vere, is a lion shaking a spear (Ogburn 10). De Vere was also known by the people as the "spear-shaker" because of excellence at the tilts and at jousting (Russell 5).
Many believe this pen name was for protection. Many of the plays said to have been written by Shakespeare explicitly describe the corruption in court politics and contain "thinly veiled satires and parodies of politicians and courtiers." In addition, public theatres such as the Globe were laced with prostitutes, drunkards and criminals and because of the scoundrel audiences, playwrights were held in low esteem. Moreover, many ...

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understood the workings of royalty from the inside out (Friedman 10). Although there is no evidence that Shakespeare moved freely about this society, de Vere was regarded as a "brilliant ornament of Elizabeth’s court" (Sachmartino 13) and as such would have understood what it as like to live in the aristocracy.

De Vere’s very life is in many ways represented in the plays attributed to Shakespeare of Stratford. For example, in the play Hamlet, de Vere describes many of the details of his life. Like the main character Hamlet, de Vere is virtually a prince and also of Danish decent. De Vere’s cousins, Horance and Francis are strikingly similar in name and action to Hamlet’s ...

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