The Authorship Debate.

I have developed a fetish for Shakespeare and therefore, I honestly believe that this Authorship Debate is a load of invalid arguments.  I won’t deny some of the arguments are convincing and definitely make you think twice about Shakespeare, but really, lets face it, I don’t think it really matters who wrote it. They are exquisite and great works of literature, regardless who the author is or was.

Here’s the question.

Why is there such doubt about Shakespeare’s work?

There are multiple reasons why anti-Shakespeareans doubt his work. The main reason is that there is so little knowledge about Shakespeare. For example, Shakespeare’s education is one of the most evident evidence that Shakespeare didn’t write his work. I mean, how could someone without a proper education fulfill such a high title in Literature?

Furthermore, there was also a time period named the “Lost years”  (1585-1592), in which there is no stable evidence as to Shakespeare’s whereabouts or what he was doing.  And then there is the perculiar will that didn’t mention anything about his plays, poems and the Globe Theatre.

Who was thought to write Shakespeare’s plays?

During the time period in which Shakespeare lived, there was a range of people (about 70) who were said to be the authors of this great literature, however the most feasible are:

1.     Francis Bacon

2.     Christopher Marlowe

3.     Edward De Vere, 17^th Earl of Oxford.

4.     William Stanley, 6^th Earl of Derby.

ENOUGH WITH THE NEGATIVE INFORMATION NOW.

Lets look at why Shakespeare is actually the true author of this great literature work.

I don’t believe a person needs an education or a university degree to have the ability to write and derive such amazing words. I mean is that what all writers are now asked? Whether they went to school or not?

And honestly, if it weren’t him who wrote his work, why would he be world famous? Why would he still be the MOST FAMOUS WRITER AND PLAYWRIGHT IN THE WORLD?

The Authorship debate arose in the 19^th century. If Shakespeare weren’t the true author of his work, it obviously wouldn’t take someone 250 years to bring it up?

The Relevance of Shakespeare

Shakespeare never seems to grow old. He’s constantly continuing to inspire new generations and yes, although it is agonizing to say this… I think I am starting to appreciate Shakespeare’s work. I repeat….

                   I AM STARTING TO APPRECIATE SHAKESPEARE’S WORK.

Sighs.

I, Aline, a 15 year old, has come to love Shakespeare’s work.

I repeat, yet again.

I APPRECTIATE SHAKESPEARE’S WORK.

 Okay. Enough. I think you get the point.

You are probably thinking, “WHY DO WE CARE IF YOU LOVE HIM?”, yet again, you might not even be thinking.

Well, it’s just showing how he is inspiring new generations and in this generation, I am included. I have been enlightened and inspired by his advanced literature.

Still being relevant today.

HE IS STILL RELEVANT.

Key word here:

RELEVANT.

During studying Macbeth this term, I have come to the realization that Shakespeare’s characterisation is one of the aspects that makes his work stand out.

Violence.                                                                                                                          Rivalry.

         

            Romance.                                                                                                  Anger.

                                         Tragedy.                                                   Happiness.

                    

Power.

If I am not mistaken, all of these things mentioned above, have ALL been portrayed in Shakespeare’s work and are ALL seen nowadays. He has managed to include societies ideologies and allowed society to relate to his work, therefore making his work more appealing,

POWER.

POWER.

POWER.

Its one of the most dominant themes displayed in the majority of Shakespeare’s plays, and is similarly the thing that everyone wants.

We all want power and dominance and this is portrayed in nearly every country. For example in Syria or Palestine, every day these two countries are subjected to violence and this is due to people wanting power or things as such.

Shakespeare has enlightened our literature.

ENLIGHTED.

LITERATURE.

Shakespeare has delivered a rare exquisite quality of work.

If Shakespeare’s work wasn’t considered a genius, I don’t think we’d be taught how to analyse his work and extract the insightful meaning behind the perplexing words and sentences.

A short post, I realise.

To conclude, I believe, that yes, Shakespeare is still relevant. For some it may be a definite NO and for some it is debatable.

Parting is such a sweet sorrow. – William Shakespeare.

SHAKESPEARE AND THE MEDIA.

THE BEST AND WORST INVENTION IN THE WORLD WAS RENACTING SHAKESPEARE’S LITERATURE INTO MOVIES AND YOUTUBE CLIPS. HOW’S THAT FOR MODERNISED?

So here goes nothing.

I realise that this topic isn’t actually the easiest to write about (in my opinion anyway).

The way I look at it is:

     1)  Smart geniuses like Polanski were able to make Shakespeare’s work into movies, which, in a way, I guess, made it oh-so-easy to understand Shakespeare’s work. For the challenged of course, this was the best thing. Why read the play, when we can just watch the movie?  

          2)  Its stupid not to read the plays before watching the movie. How are you supposed to appreciate the work?

Going back to number one now.

YES. YES. YES. Watching the movie might be so much more interesting and amazing and you might even get a feel for Shakespeare’s not so overrated work. For all we know, you might even LOVE him because of the media.  The media has changed the way people portray Shakespeare. Although I believe that reading Shakespeare’s plays, is more interesting and beneficial, maybe, having the media broadcast all his work has made society LOVE HIM. Just maybe.  I mean, when the movies are made, the directors alter some parts of the acts and therefore you’re not able to appreciate Shakespeare’s work and genius.

Oh god. This is probably the worst blog I have written. Honestly. I don’t know what I’m even writing. I’m just spilling all my thoughts on a piece of paper (even though that’s what a blog is, I think it is supposed to make sense). I probably am not even making sense.

So back to the blog that is supposed to revolve around the one and only SHAKESPEARE.

Number two.

I’m the type of person who loves reading the actual book before watching the movie. Now, you may have a different perspective, but I’ve realised that the books have so much more detail and when I read a book, I feel like I have been taken into the world of the book, which is something that I believe the movie doesn’t do. Shakespeare is a phenomenon and I think media would ruin the beauty of his work.

I think this is an acceptable amount of words for a blog.

Shakespeare's Plays.

My mind is quite blank today and I have no literal idea how I should express my opinion of Shakespeare’s plays. I mean there are two main things that I find myself completely and utterly fascinated by. Number one – That there are multiple theories about Shakespeare’s work and that he may not be the honest author of his plays. Number two- He had a strong ability to analyse the society. This being exhibited in a number of his plays.

Lets start with number one. Yes I do realise, in my previous blog, I completely bad mouthed Shakespeare and his role in Elizabethan theatre, but hey, that isn’t entirely my fault, I guess I didn’t find myself drawn in to Elizabethan theatre. I wont deny, yes, it may be an interesting time for some, but as you could see, it wasn’t oh-so-amazing at all. EVERYONE knows Shakespeare’s plays from small primary children to the elderly. He’s one of the most famous and legendary English playwrights in the history of literature. He is the epitome of all things literature.  

There have been many conspiracy theories that state that Shakespeare wasn’t the author of his plays, although this might be true as he didn’t have a proper education and still, little is known about him, in my opinion I believe that Shakespeare was the true author of his playwrights and poems.  Honestly, if it weren’t Shakespeare who wrote the plays, why would he be so famous to this day and age? And why would high school students be forced to study a range of his famous plays, like Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet or even Macbeth?  People have the audacity to believe that because Shakespeare didn’t receive a University degree and that he endured a lack of education, that he couldn’t have the ability to write all his world famous plays. Well, what do my fellow bloggers think? Do you believe that you need to have a University degree to be an accredited writer? There are multiple people who have a University degree and haven’t even attempted to write a story and to think that Shakespeare wasn’t the true writer of his OWN work. I won’t deny, the way that Shakespeare wrote his plays perplexes me, and I find it quite perculiar, but I mean the way he wrote described exactly how society was divided during his lifetime, and yes, I find most of his work quite boring and vain. However during his lifetime people could relate to his plays because –

1.     The poor were striving for attention (well at least I think so anyway).

2.     There was a strict hierarchy implemented.

3.     Women were viewed as superior to men, however in Shakespeare’s plays, women had respected roles, and this exhibits exactly how women wanted to be viewed.

Therefore, I believe that although his work may seem completely and utterly boring, the old English society found themselves entertained by his plays and this is why, William Shakespeare, is still famous for his work today.

Let me continue with my second fascination. My fellow bloggers, I shall save you the trouble of having to go back to the top to remember my second fascination by just telling you. “Shakespeare had a refined ability to analyse society”, as I mentioned above women were viewed as subservient to men during Shakespeare’s lifetime. In his plays however, Macbeth as an example, the main source of power and persuasiveness comes from Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth persuades Macbeth to commit all the evil deeds and this is due to the fact that she had a certain ambition to become Queen and have all the power. This exhibits how women during this time period strived for power. The murderers in Macbeth are also another example of how the less fortunate were viewed. In one of the acts when Macbeth sends the two murderers to murder Banquo, the murderers obey him straight away although they know that Banquo was a dear friend of Macbeth.  

To conclude, yes, I do not deny that Shakespeare’s plays are vain and boring, however he observed the society carefully and incorporated his observations in his plays in order for his audience to be able to relate to his plays. And I also find it quite absurd, that people have the audacity to doubt one of the worlds most famous playwrights work.