DOCSLIB.ORG

Shakespeare's London

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Shakespeare's London Shakespeare’s London and the Dark Lady of the Sonnets Compiled by John Kean version 20170816 William Shakespeare and the Dark Lady William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) grew up in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, and went on to become arguably the greatest writer and playwright in the English language. Yet little is known of his life apart from a few key dates salvaged from church registers and public records. Shakespeare and his wife Anne had three children and one grandchild but no great-grandchildren. While Anne and the family remained in Stratford, Shakespeare spent a good portion of his life in London, writing and working in the theatres. Many myths and mysteries surround Shakespeare, but one of the most compelling concerns the identities of the two muses to which his 154 sonnets are addressed. Sonnets 1 to 126 speak to a “Fair Youth”, while the remaining 28 concern a “Dark Lady”. The sonnets were published in full in 1609, almost certainly without the author’s permission, so it is not known how widely Shakespeare intended them to be read. Also, it is not known how much literal truth lies in them – are they autobiographical or mere fancy, fiction or nonfiction? Most scholars seem to accept that the Fair Youth was probably either Henry Wriothesley (pronounced “rosely” or “rizzly”), 3rd Earl of Southampton, or William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, both of whom were handsome young men and patrons of Shakespeare. However, the identity of the notorious Dark Lady remains a hotly debated topic, even four centuries after Shakespeare’s death. 1 In Black Sonata you will pursue the Dark Lady’s hidden movements through Shakespeare’s London, collecting clues to her identity. The game features eleven of the most compelling candidates and tries to be as faithful to history as possible. This document gives background details on the Dark Ladies of Shakespeare’s world, as well as the few London locations where we know he spent time. It is not intended to be a full and accurate biography, but rather to pique interest in Shakespeare’s life, the culture of the times, and to add depth to the experience of playing Black Sonata. Sonnet 145 Those lips that love’s own hand did make Breathed forth the sound that said “I hate” To me that languished for her sake; But when she saw my woeful state, Straight in her heart did mercy come, Chiding that tongue that, ever sweet, Was used in giving gentle doom, And taught it thus anew to greet: “I hate” she altered with an end That followed it as gentle day Doth follow night, who like a fiend From heav’n to hell is flown away. “I hate” from hate away she threw, And saved my life, saying “not you”. Since the sonnets were apparently published without Shakespeare’s input, we do not know in what order they were intended to be read. Number 145 may actually be a very early sonnet addressed to Shakespeare’s wife, Anne Hathaway, due to the pun on her name in line 13. If so, she must initially have spurned him before accepting him. 2 Anne Whateley The first of the Dark Ladies, Anne Whateley may never have existed. In 1582 the Episcopal register at Worcester records that a marriage licence was granted to “Wm Shaxpere” to marry “Annam Whateley” in the village of Temple Grafton. The same month, William Shakespeare, aged 18, married Anne Hathaway, aged 26, of Shottery. Some authors have claimed that Shakespeare was in love with one girl, Whateley, but was forced to marry another, Hathaway, because she was pregnant to him; Shakespeare’s lost love, Anne Whateley, would then form the model for his Dark Lady. However, most scholars now attribute Whateley’s existence to a clerical error, since the spelling of names was notoriously fluid at the time – Shakespeare himself spelled his own name differently in every one of his half dozen surviving autographs. Sonnet 21 WJ Fraser So is it not with me as with that muse, Hutchison Stirred by a painted beauty to his verse, claimed this Who heav’n itself for ornament doth use, portrait And every fair with his fair doth rehearse - depicts Anne Making a couplement of proud compare Whateley, but With sun and moon, with earth and sea’s rich gems, it is probably With April’s first-born flow’rs, and all things rare Girolamo That heaven’s air in this huge rondure hems. Casio by O let me, true in love but truly write, Giovanni And then believe me: my love is as fair Boltraffio. As any mother’s child, though not so bright As those gold candles fixed in heaven’s air. Let them say more that like of hearsay well; I will not praise that purpose not to sell.. In this early sonnet, grouped with those dedicated to the Fair Youth, Shakespeare promises not to sugar- coat his love, but tell it how it is (unlike other poets). 1 London Bridge From Roman times until the 19th Century, only one bridge ever spanned the Thames in London, though it was destroyed and rebuilt several times. The London Bridge known by Shakespeare was completed in 1209 and was crowded with some 200 wooden buildings of up to seven stories tall that all but blocked the road and overhung the river on each side. London Bridge was a thriving centre of commerce, especially for mercers and haberdashers. A prominent feature of the southern gatehouse was the spiked heads of executed criminals, dipped in tar and boiled to preserve them. Because of the congestion, crossing the bridge could take over an hour, so the wealthy often elected to use the bustling water taxis that crossed the river directly from locations such as Falcon Stairs. Sonnet 127 In the old age black was not counted fair, Or if it were, it bore not beauty’s name; But now is black beauty’s successive heir, And beauty slandered with a bastard shame: For since each hand hath put on Nature’s power, Fairing the foul with Art’s false borrowed face, Sweet beauty hath no name, no holy bower, But is profaned, if not lives in disgrace. Therefore my mistress’ eyes are raven black, Her eyes so suited, and they mourners seem At such who, not born fair, no beauty lack, Sland’ring creation with a false esteem: Yet so they mourn becoming of their woe, That every tongue says beauty should look so. This, the first of the Dark Lady sonnets, establishes the persistent theme of “blackness” in the Lady, initially in complexion but later in actions. 4 Shoreditch Shakespeare probably arrived in London in the late 1580s, aged in his mid twenties, leaving his older wife and three children behind in Stratford. At the time a thriving industry of playhouses existed outside the city walls, particularly in Shoreditch to the north east of the city. It was there, in 1576, that the actor and joiner James Burbage built one of the first permanent dedicated theatres in England. The aptly if unimaginatively named “Theatre” hosted a number of important acting troupes including the Lord Chamberlain's Men, to which Shakespeare became connected as an actor and playwright. James Burbage’s son Richard was a key member of the troupe and became famous for his titular role in one of Shakespeare’s plays, Richard III, written c.1592. Some remains of The Theatre have been found on New Inn Yard in Shoreditch. The other major theatre of the time, The Curtain, lay approximately at the site of the current Horse & Groom pub on Curtain Road. Shoreditch, from the “Agas” map of London c.1560. 5 Winnifred Burbage Winifred Burbage (c.1570 - 1642) was the wife of Richard Burbage, one of the most famous English actors of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, with whom she had at least eight children. After his death in 1619 she married another actor, Richard Robinson. Little else is recorded about her, and even her maiden name is unknown. Her known association with Shakespeare and her compatible age are the only characteristics that make her a candidate for the Dark Lady. Sonnet 143 Lo, as a careful housewife runs to catch One of her feathered creatures broke away, Sets down her babe and makes all swift dispatch In púrsuit of the thing she would have stay; Whilst her neglected child holds her in chase, Cries to catch her whose busy care is bent To follow that which flies before her face, Not prizing her poor infant’s discontent: So run’st thou after that which flies from thee, Whilst I, thy babe, chase thee afar behind. But if thou catch thy hope, turn back to me, And play the mother’s part, kiss me, be kind. So will I pray that thou mayst have thy Will, If thou turn back and my loud crying still. The domestic metaphor of this sonnet might suggest that the Dark Lady has children. Or perhaps it is just a metaphor. 6 Clerkenwell In Elizabethan England, all theatre productions were controlled and censored by the Master of Revels, deputy to the Lord Chamberlain. All new plays and troupes had to pass his inspection before they were permitted to be shown to the public. During Shakespeare’s career the Master was Edmund Tylney (1536 - 1610) and the Office of the Revels was based in St. John's Priory, Clerkenwell. Shakespeare would have visited Clerkenwell often throughout his career. Under Tylney the Office became increasingly concerned with censorship, and increasingly corrupt.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Dark Lady of the Merchant of Venice
    3 The dark lady of The Merchant of Venice ‘The Sonnets of Shakespeare offer us the greatest puzzle in the history of English literature.’ So began the voyage of Alfred Leslie Rowse (1903–97) through the murky waters cloaking the identi- ties of four persons associated with the publication in 1609 of Shakespeare’s ‘sugared sonnets’: the enigmatic ‘Mr. W.H.’ cited in the forepages as ‘onlie begetter’ of the poems; the unnamed ‘fair youth’ addressed in sonnets 1–126; the ‘rival poet’ who surfaces and submerges in sonnets 78–86; and the mysterious ‘dark lady’ celebrated and castigated in sonnets 127–52.1 Doubtless, even as Thomas Thorpe’s edition was passing through George Eld’s press, London’s mice-eyed must have begun their search for the shadowy four; it has not slacked since. As to those nominated as ‘Mr. W.H.’, the list ranges from William Herbert to Henry Wroithesley (with initials reversed) to William Harvey (Wroithesley’s stepfather). In 1964 Leslie Hotson proposed one William Hatcliffe of Lincolnshire [!], while Thomas Tyrwitt, Edmond Malone, and Oscar Wilde all favoured a (fictional) boy actor, Willie Hughes. Among candidates for the ‘fair youth’, Henry Wroithesley, Earl of Southampton (1573–1624), appears to have outlasted all comers. Those proposed as the rival poet include Christopher Marlowe (more interested in boys than ladies dark or light); Samuel Daniel (Herbert’s sometime tutor);2 Michael Drayton, drinking partner of Jonson and Shakespeare; George Chapman, whose Seaven Bookes of the Iliades (1598) were a source for Troilus and Cressida; and Barnabe Barnes, lampooned by Nashe as ‘Barnaby Bright’ in Have with you to Saffron-Walden.
    [Show full text]
  • Booklet Shakespeare 3
    SONNET 1 From fairest creatures we desire increase, That thereby beauty’s rose might never die, But as the riper should by time decease, His tender heir might bear his memory: But thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes, Feed’st thy light’st flame with self-substantial fuel, Making a famine where abundance lies, Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel. Thou that art now the world’s fresh ornament And only herald to the gaudy spring, Within thine own bud buriest thy content And, tender churl, makest waste in niggarding. Pity the world, or else this glutton be, To eat the world’s due, by the grave and thee. SONNET 18 Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm’d; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d; But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou growest: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. SONNET 29 When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes, I all alone beweep my outcast state, And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, And look upon myself, and curse my fate, Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, Featur'd like him, like him with friends possess'd, Desiring this man's art and that man's scope, With what I most enjoy contented least; Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising, Haply I think on thee, and then my state, Like to the lark at break of day arising From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate; For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings That then I scorn to change my state with kings.
    [Show full text]
  • 4. Shakespeare Authorship Doubt in 1593
    54 4. Shakespeare Authorship Doubt in 1593 Around the time of Marlowe’s apparent death, the name William Shakespeare appeared in print for the first time, attached to a new work, Venus and Adonis, described by its author as ‘the first heir of my invention’. The poem was registered anonymously on 18 April 1593, and though we do not know exactly when it was published, and it may have been available earlier, the first recorded sale was 12 June. Scholars have long noted significant similarities between this poem and Marlowe’s Hero and Leander; Katherine Duncan-Jones and H.R. Woudhuysen describe ‘compelling links between the two poems’ (Duncan-Jones and Woudhuysen, 2007: 21), though they admit it is difficult to know how Shakespeare would have seen Marlowe’s poem in manuscript, if it was, as is widely believed, being written at Thomas Walsingham’s Scadbury estate in Kent in the same month that Venus was registered in London. The poem is preceded by two lines from Ovid’s Amores, which at the time of publication was available only in Latin. The earliest surviving English translation was Marlowe’s, and it was not published much before 1599. Duncan-Jones and Woudhuysen admit, ‘We don’t know how Shakespeare encountered Amores’ and again speculate that he could have seen Marlowe’s translations in manuscript. Barber, R, (2010), Writing Marlowe As Writing Shakespeare: Exploring Biographical Fictions DPhil Thesis, University of Sussex. Downloaded from www. rosbarber.com/research. 55 Ovid’s poem is addressed Ad Invidos: ‘to those who hate him’. If the title of the epigram poem is relevant, it is more relevant to Marlowe than to Shakespeare: personal attacks on Marlowe in 1593 are legion, and include the allegations in Richard Baines’ ‘Note’ and Thomas Drury’s ‘Remembrances’, Kyd’s letters to Sir John Puckering, and allusions to Marlowe’s works in the Dutch Church Libel.
    [Show full text]
  • Education Pack
    Education Pack 1 Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 3 Section 1: Shakespeare and the Original Twelfth Night ..................................................... 4 William Shakespeare 1564 - 1616 ...................................................................................... 5 Elizabethan and Jacobean Theatre ..................................................................................... 6 Section 2: The Watermill’s Production of Twelfth Night .................................................. 10 A Brief Synopsis .............................................................................................................. 11 Character Map ................................................................................................................ 13 1920s and Twelfth Night.................................................................................................. 14 Meet the Cast ................................................................................................................. 16 Actor’s Blog .................................................................................................................... 20 Two Shows, One Set ........................................................................................................ 24 Rehearsal Diary ............................................................................................................... 26 Rehearsal Reports ..........................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Notes on the Bacon-Shakespeare Question
    NOTES ON THE BACON-SHAKESPEARE QUESTION BY CHARLES ALLEN BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY ftiucrsi&c press, 1900 COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY CHARLES ALLEN ALL RIGHTS RESERVED GIFT PREFACE AN attempt is here made to throw some new light, at least for those who are Dot already Shakespearian scholars, upon the still vexed ques- tion of the authorship of the plays and poems which bear Shakespeare's name. In the first place, it has seemed to me that the Baconian ar- gument from the legal knowledge shown in the plays is of slight weight, but that heretofore it has not been adequately met. Accordingly I have en- deavored with some elaboration to make it plain that this legal knowledge was not extraordinary, or such as to imply that the author was educated as a lawyer, or even as a lawyer's clerk. In ad- dition to dealing with this rather technical phase of the general subject, I have sought from the plays themselves and from other sources to bring together materials which have a bearing upon the question of authorship, and some of which, though familiar enough of themselves, have not been sufficiently considered in this special aspect. The writer of the plays showed an intimate M758108 iv PREFACE familiarity with many things which it is believed would have been known to Shakespeare but not to Bacon and I have to collect the most '; soughtO important of these, to exhibit them in some de- tail, and to arrange them in order, so that their weight may be easily understood and appreci- ated.
    [Show full text]
  • NEW FACES Intellectual Output
    PROJECT : NEW FACES Intellectual Output n°6 FACING EUROPE IN CRISIS: SHAKESPEARE’S WORLD AND PRESENT CHALLENGES (VOL. 2) Language: English Edited by Richard Chapman and Paola Spinozzi (Università di Ferrara) The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Strategic Partnerships for Higher Education NEW FACES 2016-1-FR01-KA203-023980 Table of contents 1. Wheeling Strangers of Here and Everywhere Present Issues of Integration and the Early Modern Crisis of Conversion Lieke Stelling, Universiteit Utrecht…………… ……………………..…………….p.1 2. Shakespeare and the Origins of European Culture Wars Jean-Christophe Mayer, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3……………..……..p.14 3. Educated Shrews: Shakespeare, Women’s Education and Its Backlash Larisa Kocic-Zámbó, Szegedi Tudományegyetem / University of Szeged………..p.27 4. Towards a Critical Reevaluation of The Rape of Lucrece Juan F. Cerda, Universidad de Murcia…………………………………………...…p.47 5. LOL and LLL Nathalie Vienne-Guerrin, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3…………………..p.58 6. From a Corrupt Eden to Bio-power: War and Nature in the Henriad Martin Procházka, Univerzita Karlova…………………………………..…………p.68 7. Crises of Our Time in Song of the Goat Theatre’s Island Agnieszka Romanowska, Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie…………………..p.81 8. Mrs Shakespeare’s New Face(t)s Paola Spinozzi, Università di Ferrara………………………………………...……..p.99 Strategic Partnerships for Higher Education NEW FACES 2016-1-FR01-KA203-023980 New Faces essay collection, Lieke Stelling, August 2019 Wheeling Strangers of Here and Everywhere.
    [Show full text]
  • The Printers of Shakespeare's Plays and Poems
    149 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/library/article/s2-VII/26/149/943715 by guest on 27 September 2021 THE PRINTERS OF SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS AND POEMS. HE men who, during Shakespeare's lifetime, printed his * Venus and Ado- nis,' * Lucrece,' and * Sonnets,' and the Quarto editions of his plays, can hardly be called Shakespeare's printers, since, with one exception, there is no evidence that he ever authorized the printing of any of his works, or ever revised those that were published. Even in the case of Richard Field, the evidence is presumptive and not direct. Yet Englishmen may be pardoned if they cling to the belief that Shakespeare employed Field to print for him and frequented the printing office in Blackfriars while the proof sheets of * Venus and Adonis' and ' Lucrece' were passing through the press. For Stratford-on-Avon claimed both the printer and the poet, and if it be a stretch of the imagination to look upon them as fellow scholars in the grammar school, and playmates in the fields, their distant Warwickshire birthplace offered a bond of sympathy which might well draw them to one another. It is some matter for congratulation that the first of Shakespeare's writings to be printed came from a press that had long been known for the excellence of its work. When Richard Field came to London in 1579, be entered the service of a bookseller, but 150 PRINTERS OF SHAKESPEARE'S within a year he was transferred, probably at his own desire, to the printing office of Thomas Vau- trollicr, the Huguenot printer in Blackfriars.
    [Show full text]
  • A Midsummer Night's Dream
    SUPPORT FOR THE 2021 SEASON OF THE TOM PATTERSON THEATRE IS GENEROUSLY PROVIDED BY PRODUCTION SUPPORT IS GENEROUSLY PROVIDED BY THE HARKINS & MANNING FAMILIES IN MEMORY OF SUSAN & JIM HARKINS LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Welcome to the Stratford Festival. It is a great privilege to gather and share stories on this beautiful territory, which has been the site of human activity — and therefore storytelling — for many thousands of years. We wish to honour the ancestral guardians of this land and its waterways: the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Wendat, and the Attiwonderonk. Today many Indigenous peoples continue to call this land home and act as its stewards, and this responsibility extends to all peoples, to share and care for this land for generations to come. A MESSAGE FROM OUR ARTISTIC DIRECTOR WORLDS WITHOUT WALLS Two young people are in love. They’re next- cocoon, and now it’s time to emerge in a door neighbours, but their families don’t get blaze of new colour, with lively, searching on. So they’re not allowed to meet: all they work that deals with profound questions and can do is whisper sweet nothings to each prompts us to think and see in new ways. other through a small gap in the garden wall between them. Eventually, they plan to While I do intend to program in future run off together – but on the night of their seasons all the plays we’d planned to elopement, a terrible accident of fate impels present in 2020, I also know we can’t just them both to take their own lives.
    [Show full text]
  • CONTENTS Editorial I Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford
    VOL. LVI. No. 173 PRICE £1 函°N加少 0 December, 1973 CONTENTS Editorial i Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford ... 11 Othello ... 17 Ex Deo Nascimur 31 Bacon's Belated Justice 35 Francis Bacon*s Pictorial Hallmarks 66 From the Archives 81 Hawk Versus Dove 87 Book Reviews 104 Correspondence ... 111 © Published Periodically LONDON: Published by The Francis Bacon Society IncorporateD at Canonbury Tower, Islington, London, N.I, and printed by Lightbowns Limited, 72 Union Street, Ryde, Isle of Wight. THE FRANCIS BACON SOCIETY (INCORPORATED) Among the Objects for which the Society is established, as expressed in the Memorandum of Association, are the following 1. To encourage for the benefit of the public, the study of the works of Francis Bacon as philosopher, statesman and poet; also his character, genius and life; his- — . influence: — £1._ _ — — — on his1" — own and J succeeding— J : /times, 〜— —and the tendencies cfand」 v*results 否 of his writing. 2. To encourage for the benefit of the public, the general study of the evidence in favour of Francis Bacon's authorship of the plays commonly ascribed to Shakespeare, and to investigate his connection with other works of the Elizabethan period. Officers and Council: Hon, President: Cmdr. Martin Pares, R.N. Past Hon, President: Capt. B, Alexander, m.r.i. Hon. Vice-Presidents: Wilfred Woodward, Esq. Roderick L. Eagle, Esq. Council: Noel Fermor, Esq., Chairman T. D. Bokenham, Esq., Vice-Chairman Cmdr. Martin Pares, R.N. Nigel Hardy, Esq. J. D. Maconachie, Esq. A. D. Searl, Esq. Sidney Filon, Esq. Austin Hatt-Arnold, Esq. Secretary: Mrs. D.
    [Show full text]
  • Saudi Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (SJHSS) ISSN 2415-6256 (Print) a Stylistic Approach of William Shakespeare's
    Saudi Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (SJHSS) ISSN 2415-6256 (Print) Scholars Middle East Publishers ISSN 2415-6248 (Online) Dubai, United Arab Emirates Website: http://scholarsmepub.com/ A Stylistic Approach of William Shakespeare’s “SONNET 138” Most Farhana Jannat* Lecturer, Department of English Bangladesh University of Professionals, Mirpur Cantonment, Dhaka, Bangladesh Abstract: This paper aims to analyze the sonnet 138 written by William *Corresponding author Shakespeare from a stylistic point of view. The division of Shakespeare‟s sonnets Most Farhana Jannat is shown. A short introduction to both style and stylistics in literature are written. For further facilitation, a short introduction to Shakespeare, the sonnet 138 and its Article History themes are given. The stylistic analysis of the sonnet is shown from four sides. Received: 23.11.2017 Graphological, grammatical, phonological and lexical analyses are shown. This Accepted: 04.12.2017 paper will help to understand the structure and style of Shakespeare‟s sonnet Published: 30.12.2017 number 138. Moreover, the themes and ideals of Shakespeare will also be understood. DOI: Keywords: Sonnet, style, stylistic, graphological analysis, lexical analysis, 10.21276/sjhss.2017.2.12.1 grammatical analysis, phonological analysis, Shakespeare INTRODUCTION William Shakespeare is well known worldwide for his 154 sonnets. The critics believe that, among them, the first 1-126 is about the Fair Youth or the Earl of Southampton while the rest of the sonnets are written about the dark lady. Sonnet 138, among all the other sonnets in the sequence, is one of the most well- known sonnets. In this particular sonnet, the poet continues in his quest of self- criticism but mixes it with a unique love for the dark lady.
    [Show full text]
  • SAC Declaration of Reasonable Doubt
    Shakespeare Authorship Coalition (SAC) - www.DoubtAboutWill.org To Shakespeare lovers everywhere, as well as to those who are encountering him for the first time: know that a great mystery lies before you. How could William “Shakspere” of Stratford have been the author, William Shakespeare, and leave no definitive evidence of it that dates from his lifetime? And why is there an enormous gulf between the alleged author’s life and the contents of his works? In the annals of world literature, William Shakespeare is an icon of towering greatness. But who was he? past who have expressed doubt that Mr. “Shakspere” wrote the works of William Shakespeare: Mark Twain Orson Welles William James Paul H. Nitze Henry James 5ZSPOF(VUISJF Sigmund Freud Lord Palmerston Walt Whitman $IBSMJF$IBQMJO Clifton Fadiman William Y. Elliott 3BMQI8BMEP&NFSTPO 4JS+PIO(JFMHVE John Galsworthy Lewis F. Powell, Jr. 4JS(FPSHF(SFFOXPPE )VHI5SFWPS3PQFS Mortimer J. Adler Harry A. Blackmun Present-day doubters include many more prominent individuals, numerous leading Shakespearean actors, and growing numbers of English professors. Brunel University in West London, and Concordia University in Portland, Oregon, now offer degree programs in authorship studies. Yet orthodox scholars claim that there is no room for doubt that Mr. Shakspere wrote the plays and poems traditionally attributed to him. Some say that it is not even an important question. We, the undersigned, hereby declare our view that there is room for reasonable doubt about the identity of William Shakespeare, and that it is an important question for anyone seeking to understand the works, the formative literary culture in which they were produced, or the nature of literary creativity and genius.
    [Show full text]
  • The Play of 'Sir Thomas More' and Shakespeare's Hand in It
    79 THE PLAY OF 'SIR THOMAS MORE' AND SHAKESPEARE'S HAND IN IT. Downloaded from I HE announcement late last year by an expert in palaeography that a holo- I graph manuscript of Shakespeare is http://library.oxfordjournals.org/ preserved in the British Museum was an event of national importance, though the Press universally ignored it. Perhaps that was characteristic of * the usual channels of information,' as we call them in satiric moments; but the omission was deplorable, even in war time. For the claim was not the shallow guesswork of at University of California, San Diego on June 5, 2015 an amateur; it was the outcome of an exhaustive study of Shakespeare's handwriting, made by so high an authority as Sir Edward Maunde Thompson.1 The work crowned with this unique distinction is a play entitled 'The Bookc of Sir Thomas Moore,' preserved in Harlcy MS. 7368. It is a thin folio, the thirteen original leaves of which have been identified as in the autograph of Anthony Munday. A mixed assortment of plays, pageants, poems, translations of romances, annals, and miscel- laneous pamphlets issued from his facile pen between 1577 and 1633. Once, and once only, a contem- porary made the mistake of placing him on a 1 ' Shakespeare's Handwriting. A Study by Sir Edward Maunde Thompson.' Oxford, the Clarendon Press, 1916. See also the first Review. 80 THE PLAY OF 'SIR T. MORE' pinnacle of genius. Looking round on the the- atrical world in 1598, Francis Meres enumerated the chief English writers of comedy, and from a group which ^included Shakespeare, singled out Munday as ' our best plotter.' Even if his other Downloaded from plays afforded any justification for this extravagant eulogy, ' Sir Thomas More' would go far to in- validate it.
    [Show full text]