Did Shakespeare Really Write His Plays? Insolence and the Strong Hand
By Stephen Wilson, one of our reporters abroad
Poor naked wretches, whate'er you are,
That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm,
How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides,
Your loopt and window'd raggedness, defend you,
From seasons such as these?
O, I have ta'en too little care of this.
King Lear, reflecting on the condition of being homeless and how he might have done more to aid them while he was king. (Part three, scene five 6-51, King Lear, by William Shakespeare)
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"Imagine that you see the wretched strangers/ Their babies at their backs, with their poor luggage/ plodding to the ports and coasts for transportation/ And that you sit as kings in your desires. What had you got? I'll tell you: you had taught/ how insolence and strong hand should prevail.'"
This quotation is from a largely obscure play titled “Sir Thomas More” which was censored and never performed. But we know from the examination of the handwriting that this scene was written by William Shakespeare. The other scenes were written by at least four authors called Henry Chettle, Thomas Heywood, Thomas Dekker--and Shakespeare and a mysterious editor called 'Hand C.'
The scene is based on rioters who have gathered in Saint Martin's Gate, threatening to attack and drive out refugees. Thomas More, who is the Sheriff of London, calms down the rioters by making a moving speech in a soft and calm voice. He appeals to the rioters to try and put themselves in the feet of the refugees. More even asks them to imagine if whether they themselves were banished to a foreign country would they like to receive the same treatment they mete out? He asks, “Would you be pleased/To find a nation of such a barbarous temper?” {6.145-146}
Surely this scene represents more proof that Shakespeare was the real author of most of his plays! And this proof of authorship lies in a readily identifiable voice of Shakespeare reflected in his style of words as well as humanism, compassion, and enormous empathy for the underdog whether they be the poor, the homeless or refugees. For instance in “King Lear” you find compassion for the plight of the homeless and in “The Tempest” sympathy for people who are abused as forced slaves.
However, despite this consistent voice of concern running through all Shakespeare's works I am still asked again and again in Russia "Did Shakespeare really write those plays?" I wondered why I kept on being asked this question. Then I noticed how so many Russian journals or newspapers wrote articles addressing this question. I was astounded by how many deniers there actually were!
Now it would be tempting to just dismiss such deniers as 'bonkers', 'cranks' or simply 'conspiracy theorists.’ However, such deniers included writers such as Mark Twain—and even Sigmund Freud!
What are the main arguments that Shakespeare did not write the plays?
One such argument is that since Shakespeare did not go to university he lacked the know-how to write such plays. Then people ask, “How could he write so many plays about Italy if he had never gone to Italy…
…or write so much about the court when he was never a servant there?” The deniers also claim that if Shakespeare was so famous why do we not hear more about him in the popular press at the time? They claim we don't know much about his life at all!
How should we answer those questions? Firstly, you don't need a great university education to be a poet or playwright. For instance, neither Robert Burns nor Alexander Pushkin attended a university but are considered among the greatest poets of the world! And do you need to go abroad to write a play about Italy? It is quite possible to just write a play about Italy without stepping one foot in Italy!
The claim that we don't know much about the life of Shakespeare is untrue. We do actually have numerous primary sources. The English historian Professor Michael Wood states it is absurd to deny the primary historical sources as if they were just invented by people.
So how should we answer those allegations? I think it suffices to provide at least three or four examples of proof!
1. We have undeniable evidence suggesting Shakespeare was the author of two long and popular narrative poems “Venus and Adonis” {1592-1593} and “The Rape of Lucrece” {1593-1594}. The former was a bestseller reprinted 9 times by 1610!
2. A further proof comes in a letter written in the Autumn of 1592 by the dying playwright Robert Greene to three authors who refers to Shakespeare as “an upstart crow” who “supposes he is as much able to bombast out a blank verse as the best of you: and being an absolute Johannes Factotum is in his own conceit the only Shakes-scene in a country.”
3. More evidence emerges in 1598 when Francis Mere wrote a book titled “Palladis Tamia” or “Treasury of Wit,” which describes Shakespeare as one of the most prominent playwrights and mentions the titles of at least 12 of his own plays.
4. As many as 36 of Shakespeare's plays were published in the first Folio in 1623 where you can read in the preface where Shakespeare's fellow actors John Heming and Henry Condell play tribute to him. Indeed, an old rival, Ben Johnson wrote a moving poem to Shakespeare where he describes him as “the sweet swan of Avon” and penned that “He was not of an age, but for all time.” Are the deniers suggesting that all those actors got together and conspired to invent Shakespeare's authorship?
Those are just some of the primary sources which are adequate and vindicate that the original author of the plays was indeed Shakespeare...
…Now it is true that Shakespeare shared authorship with some authors such as John Fletcher {i.e, “Henry the Eighth” and “Two Noble Kinsmen”}. But concerning most plays, professional linguists have found a particular style and use of words which is distinct from, say Christopher Marlowe, or the other authors of the rejected play “Sir Thomas More.”
We must not overlook a simple axiom that plays are not written to be read--but instead watched.
And a play itself is not a highly individualized work of art. The success of a play does not depend on the author alone. It relies on the collaboration of actors, musicians and all the staff of the theater. A brilliant or bad performance can make or break even the best of scripts! Stanislavsky stated in “Building a Character” that “We are inclined to forget that the printed play is not a finished piece of work until it is played on the stage by the actor and brought to life by genuine human emotions. The same can be said of a musical score. It is not really a symphony until it is executed by the orchestra of musicians in a concert..... When they are spoken, the words come from the author, the subtext from the actor. If this were not so, the public would not make the effort of coming to the theater. They would sit at home and read a printed play” {Pages 97-98, Stanislavsky, “Building a Character,” 2013, New York and London: Bloomsbury Academic}.
Does it really matter whether Shakespeare was the author or not? It does matter much because playwrights, poets and actors have an integrity that should be respected. They don't deserve to be falsely accused of being impostors or plagiarists. For the deniers, they are conveniently dead! And Shakespeare is often misconstrued as simply writing about Kings and Queens rather than simple people. But surely the striking humanism running through his plays suggests otherwise. Shakespeare's compassion and inexhaustible empathy stand out. We see this in King Lear!
When King Lear becomes homeless he comes across another vagrant and admits to him that he could have been a better king who might have done more to help the homeless. King Lear declares, “O I have taen too little care of this.” It's a poignant and moving confession. It acknowledges the true tragedy of being rendered homeless.
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Recommended for further reading:
1. “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, 1994, Ware, Herdfordshire, Britain: Wordsworth Editions. You can read all the poems where the actors pay homage to Shakespeare in the preface.
2. “The Little Book of Shakespeare,” Gillian Andrews, 2018, London: Random House-Penguin. The chapter on “Sir Thomas More” quotes a speech made by More in defense of refugees who have come to England. This is especially relevant for contemporary times when we are witnessing a growing wave of xenophobia in Britain against refugees and the passage of an Illegal Migrant bill through parliament.
3. “As you Like it,” by William Shakespeare, 1994, London and New York: Penguin Popular Classics. The introduction provides all the main points of proof that Shakespeare was the author of his works!
4. “Building a Character,” by Constantin Stanislavski, 2013, New York and London: Bloomsbury Academic. Stanislavski provides interesting points about how we should view the authorship of plays in relation to the performance of them and how we conceive a work of art as being a mainly collective and not individualistic work.
5. “Shakespeare's London On 5 Groats A Day,” by Richard Tames, 2009, London: Thames and Hudson. This book is highly enjoyable and lively. (I could not put it down myself!) You get some idea of what it was like to be an ordinary person walking around London at the time. The book is also beautifully illustrated with wonderful drawings and pictures.