Download or read book Contested Will written by James Shapiro and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2011-04-19 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro explains when and why so many people began to question whether Shakespeare wrote his plays.
Download or read book Who Wrote Shakespeare written by John Michell and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reprinted from 1st pbk. ed., published in 1999. Originally published in hardcover in 1996.
Download or read book Shakespeare s Unorthodox Biography written by Diana Price and published by Praeger. This book was released on 2001 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It successfully argues that "William Shakespeare" was the pen name of an aristocrat, and that William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon was a shrewd entrepreneur, not a dramatist."--BOOK JACKET.
Download or read book Shakespeare by Another Name written by Margo Anderson and published by Untreed Reads. This book was released on 2011-11-04 with total page 667 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The debate over the true author of the Shakespeare canon has raged for centuries. Astonishingly little evidence supports the traditional belief that Will Shakespeare, the actor and businessman from Stratford-upon-Avon, was the author. Legendary figures such as Mark Twain, Walt Whitman and Sigmund Freud have all expressed grave doubts that an uneducated man who apparently owned no books and never left England wrote plays and poems that consistently reflect a learned and well-traveled insider's perspective on royal courts and the ancient feudal nobility. Recent scholarship has turned to Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford-an Elizabethan court playwright known to have written in secret and who had ample means, motive and opportunity to in fact have assumed the "Shakespeare" disguise. "Shakespeare" by Another Name is the literary biography of Edward de Vere as "Shakespeare." This groundbreaking book tells the story of de Vere's action-packed life-as Renaissance man, spendthrift, courtier, wit, student, scoundrel, patron, military adventurer, and, above all, prolific ghostwriter-finding in it the background material for all of The Bard's works. Biographer Mark Anderson incorporates a wealth of new evidence, including de Vere's personal copy of the Bible (in which de Vere underlines scores of passages that are also prominent Shakespearean biblical references).
Download or read book Shakespeare and His Authors written by William Leahy and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-03-17 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Shakespeare Authorship question - the question of who wrote Shakespeare's plays and who the man we know as Shakespeare was - is a subject which fascinates millions of people the world over and can be seen as a major cultural phenomenon. However, much discussion of the question exists on the very margins of academia, deemed by most Shakespearean academics as unimportant or, indeed, of interest only to conspiracy theorists. Yet, many academics find the Authorship question interesting and worthy of analysis in theoretical and philosophical terms. This collection brings together leading literary and cultural critics to explore the Authorship question as a social, cultural and even theological phenomenon and consider it in all its rich diversity and significance.
Download or read book Will in the World How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare Anniversary Edition written by Stephen Greenblatt and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2010-05-03 with total page 441 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Named One of Esquire's 50 Best Biographies of All Time The Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist, reissued with a new afterword for the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. A young man from a small provincial town moves to London in the late 1580s and, in a remarkably short time, becomes the greatest playwright not of his age alone but of all time. How is an achievement of this magnitude to be explained? Stephen Greenblatt brings us down to earth to see, hear, and feel how an acutely sensitive and talented boy, surrounded by the rich tapestry of Elizabethan life, could have become the world’s greatest playwright.
Download or read book A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare written by James Shapiro and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-10-13 with total page 620 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize’s 25th Anniversary Winner of Winners award What accounts for Shakespeare’s transformation from talented poet and playwright to one of the greatest writers who ever lived? In this gripping account, James Shapiro sets out to answer this question, "succeed[ing] where others have fallen short." (Boston Globe) 1599 was an epochal year for Shakespeare and England. During that year, Shakespeare wrote four of his most famous plays: Henry the Fifth, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, and, most remarkably, Hamlet; Elizabethans sent off an army to crush an Irish rebellion, weathered an Armada threat from Spain, gambled on a fledgling East India Company, and waited to see who would succeed their aging and childless queen. James Shapiro illuminates both Shakespeare’s staggering achievement and what Elizabethans experienced in the course of 1599, bringing together the news and the intrigue of the times with a wonderful evocation of how Shakespeare worked as an actor, businessman, and playwright. The result is an exceptionally immediate and gripping account of an inspiring moment in history.
Download or read book William Shakespeare written by Ari Berk and published by Candlewick Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 17 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes Shakespeare's experiences in London and his retirement to the country in a fictional account that includes excerpts from his works.
Download or read book Sweet Swan of Avon written by Robin Williams and published by Peachpit Press. This book was released on 2006-03-15 with total page 587 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is long overdue that someone took a closer look at the brilliant Mary Sidney. I have a suspicion that Mary Sidney’s life, and especially her dedication to the English language after her brother’s death, may throw important light on the mysterious authorship of the Shakespeare plays and poems. —Mark Rylance Actor; Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, 1996–2006; Chairman of the Shakespearean Authorship Trust For more than two hundred years, a growing number of researchers have questioned whether the man named William Shakespeare actually wrote the works attributed to him. There is no paper trail for William Shakespeare—no record that he was ever paid for writing, nothing in his handwriting but a few signatures on legal documents, no evidence of his presence in the royal court except as an actor in his later years, no confirmation of his involvement in the literary circles of the time. With so little information about this man—and even less evidence connecting him to the plays and sonnets—what can and what can’t we assume about the author of the greatest works of the English language? For the first time, Robin P. Williams presents an in-depth inquiry into the possibility that Mary Sidney Herbert, the Countess of Pembroke, wrote the works attributed to the man named William Shakespeare. As well educated as Queen Elizabeth I, this woman was at the forefront of the literary movement in England, yet not allowed to write for the public stage. But that’s just the beginning . . . The first question I am asked by curious freshmen in my Shakespeare course is always, “Who wrote these plays anyway?” Now, because of Robin Williams’ rigorous scholarship and artful sleuthing, Mary Sidney Herbert will forever have to be mentioned as a possible author of the Shakespeare canon. Sweet Swan of Avon doesn’t pretend to put the matter to rest, but simply shows how completely reasonable the authorship controversy is, and how the idea of a female playwright surprisingly answers more Shakespearean conundrums than it creates... —Cynthia Lee Katona Professor of Shakespeare and Women’s Studies, Ohlone College; Author of Book Savvy
Download or read book The Case for Edward de Vere as the Real William Shakespeare written by John Milnes Baker and published by Urlink Print & Media, LLC. This book was released on 2023-12-05 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Shakespeare Authorship Question has been the subject of heated debate for generations. This concise introduction to the controversy challenges the conventional narrative that Will Shakspere of Stratfordupon- Avon was the author of the works of William Shakespeare. Anyone with natural curiosity will find the case for Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, as the real William Shakespeare a fascinating subject for further investigation. The Clarion Review stated: The book's objective is not to examine every aspect of the de Vere theory in detail, but to condense that material and present its essentials. In service of accomplishing that goal, it includes a thorough list of references and additional reading suggestions for those interested in learning more. "To ask Shakespeare scholars to research the authorship is like asking the College of Cardinals to honestly research the Resurrection." --- Robin Fox, PhD, professor of social theory, Rutgers University
Download or read book Is Shakespeare Dead written by Mark Twain and published by Library of Alexandria. This book was released on 2020-09-28 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ÊIs Shakespeare Dead? is a short, semi-autobiographical work by American humorist Mark Twain. It explores the controversy over the authorship of the Shakespearean literary canon via satire, anecdote, and extensive quotation of contemporary authors on the subject. Ê The original publication spans only 150 pages, and the formatting leaves roughly half of each page blank. The spine is thread bound. It was published in April 1909 by Harper & Brothers, twelve months before Mark Twain's death. Ê The book attracted controversy for incorporating a chapter from The Shakespeare Problem Restated by George Greenwood without permission or proper credit, an oversight Twain blamed on the accidental omission of a footnote by the printer. Ê The book has been described as "one of his least well received and most misunderstood works". Although she admits that Twain appears to have been sincere in his beliefs concerning Shakespeare, Karen Lystra argues that the essay reveals satirical intentions that went beyond the ShakespeareÑBacon controversy of the time. Ê Though it is commonly assumed to be nothing more than a stale and embarrassing rehash of the Shakespeare-Bacon controversy, Twain was up to something more than flimsy literary criticism. He was using the debate over Shakespeare's real identity to satirize prejudice, intolerance, and self-importanceÑin himself as well as others.... But after his passionate diatribe against the "Stratfordolators" and his vigorous support of the Baconians, he cheerfully admits that both sides are built on inference. Leaving no doubt about his satirical intent, Twain then gleefully subverts his entire argument. After seeming to be a serious, even angry, combatant, he denies that he intended to convince anyone that Shakespeare was not the real author of his works. "It would grieve me to know that any one could think so injuriously of me, so uncomplimentarily, so unadmiringly of me," he writes mockingly. "Would I be so soft as that, after having known the human race familiarly for nearly seventy-four years?" We get our beliefs at second hand, he explains, "we reason none of them out for ourselves. It is the way we are made." Twain has set a trapÑan elaborate joke at the expense of what he scornfully refers to as the "Reasoning Race." He is satirizing the need to win an argument when it is virtually impossible to convince anyone to change sides in almost any debate. His excessive rhetoric of attack is obviously absurdÑcalling the other side "thugs," for exampleÑyet it has been taken at face value.
Download or read book Two Gentlemen of Verona written by William Shakespeare and published by . This book was released on 1909 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contains the work "Two gentlemen of Verona" by William Shakespeare along with notes and commentary by Shakespearean authorities.
Download or read book The New Oxford Shakespeare written by Gary Taylor and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 776 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Authorship Companion: Cutting-edge research in attribution studies; A new perspective on the dating of Shakespeare's plays, and on his dramatic collaborations; Combines the work of senior scholars with exciting new voices; Explores the latest developments in the understanding of Shakespeare's style and methods for detecting and describing it; Covers the entire breadth of Shakespeare's writing, across the plays and the poems; A record of all early documents relevant to authorship and chronology; A survey and synthesis of past scholarship to 2016; Individual case studies combined with broader analysis of theories and methods."--Publisher's description.
Download or read book The Diary of William Shakespeare Gentleman written by Jackie French and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2016-08-01 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE DIARY OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, GENTLEMAN is part comedy, part love story, the threads of Shakespeare's life drawn from his plays. Could the world's greatest writer truly put down his pen forever to become a gentleman? He was a boy who escaped small town life to be the most acclaimed playwright of the land. A lover whose sonnets still sing 400 years later; a glover's apprentice who became a gentleman. But was he happy with his new riches? Who was the woman he truly loved? The world knows the name of William Shakespeare. This book reveals the man - lover, son and poet. Based on new documentary evidence, as well as textual examination of his plays, this fascinating book gives a tantalising glimpse at what might have been: the other hands that helped craft those plays, the secrets that must ever be hidden but - just possibly - may now be told. Ages 12+
Download or read book The Poems written by William Shakespeare and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1992-01-09 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a fully annotated edition of all the poems which are now generally regarded as Shakespeare's, excluding The Sonnets. It contains Venus and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece, The Phoenix and the Turtle, The Passionate Pilgrim, and A Lover's Complaint. The introduction to the two long narrative poems examines their place within the classical and Renaissance European traditions, an issue which also applies to The Phoenix and the Turtle. The Passionate Pilgrim is a miscellany of twenty sonnets and lyrics, containing only five poems which are certain to be Shakespeare's. John Roe analyses the conditions in which the collection was produced, and weighs the evidence for and against Shakespeare's authorship of A Lover's Complaint and the much-debated question of its genre. He demonstrates how in his management of formal tropes Shakespeare, like the best Elizabethans, fashions a living language out of handbook oratory.
Download or read book The Case for Shakespeare written by Scott McCrea and published by Praeger. This book was released on 2005-01-30 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Demonstrates that William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon really did write the plays and poems attributed to him via a literary forensics case that puts all other authorship theories to rest.
Download or read book Shakespeare and the Psalms Mystery written by Jem Bloomfield and published by . This book was released on 2017-08-29 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Did Shakespeare write Psalm 46 of the King James Bible? In "Shakespeare and the Psalms Mystery" Jem Bloomfield investigates the literary legend that the famous playwright left his mark on the Authorized Version. He delves into the historical, textual and literary evidence, showing that the story isn't true - but that there are much more engrossing stories to be told about Shakespeare and the Bible. Whilst amassing the evidence against the Psalm 46 legend, Bloomfield asks why people want to believe it. What does this myth tell us about the connections between Shakespeare and the Bible? What does it reveal about people's views of religion and culture? In an intriguing investigation, Bloomfield ranges from the theatres of sixteenth-century England to the churches of the modern United States. On the way the reader is shown exiled Protestants becoming illegal Bible-smugglers, Edwardian schoolboys making jokes about the Book of Daniel, Lady Mary Sidney writing poetry inspired by the Psalms, Rudyard Kipling taking instructions from his own personal daemon, Lancelot Andrewes declaring that Jesus was a gardener, and other remarkable scenes from literary history. "Shakespeare and the Psalms Mystery" argues that the truth is always odder and more fascinating than any conspiracy theory. In debunking the legend of Shakespeare's hand in the King James Bible, it offers the reader a glimpse into the real mysteries which these books and their histories possess. Jem Bloomfield is Assistant Professor of Literature at the University of Nottingham. His previous publications include articles in scholarly journals on literature, theatre and religion, and the book "Words of Power: Reading Shakespeare and the Bible."
