Anonymous: Was Shakespeare a Fraud?

Thanks so much to Elizabeth Files visitor, Alexis, for telling me about this movie which is due to be released in the USA in the Autumn (Fall). “Anonymous”, from Sony Movies and 2012 director Roland Emmerich, asks the age-old question, “Who was Shakespeare?”, which has been debated for many years.

Did the man William Shakespeare from Stratford-upon-Avon really write the many plays and sonnets we associate with him? “No”, argue some notable scholars and actors who argue for the likes of the Earl of Oxford (Edward de Vere), Francis Bacon or Christopher Marlowe, but “yes” argue the Stratfordians. You can read more about the debate and the various theories in the following articles/websites:-

• The Shakespeare Fellowship – An Oxfordian site which debates the question of authorship but is Oxfordian (Earl of Oxford as author) in its outlook.
• A Beginner’s Guide to the Shakespeare Authorship Problem – This article looks at the various theories and then puts forward the case for the Earl of Oxford.
• The Shakespeare Authorship Page – This website proposes that William Shakespeare did write his plays.
• The Shakespeare Authorship Coalition – A website promoting the “Declaration of Reasonable Doubt about the Identity of William Shakespeare”.
• The Francis Bacon Society – A society which believes that Shakespeare’s works were written by Francis Bacon
• The International Marlowe-Shakespeare Society – A society putting forward the argument for Christopher Marlowe as author of Shakespeare’s works.
• The Marlowe Society – Another Marlovian Society.

I can’t say that I’ve really looked into the subject and the only book I have read on the Oxfordian theory just did not convince me but I must say that I’m looking forward to Anonymous, which stars Vanessa Redgrave as Queen Elizabeth I, her daughter Joely Richardson as the young Elizabeth and Rhys Ifans as Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford. Here is what the SonyPictures You Tube channel says about the film:-

“Set in the political snake-pit of Elizabethan England, Anonymous speculates on an issue that has for centuries intrigued academics and brilliant minds ranging from Mark Twain and Charles Dickens to Henry James and Sigmund Freud, namely: who was the author of the plays credited to William Shakespeare? Experts have debated, books have been written, and scholars have devoted their lives to protecting or debunking theories surrounding the authorship of the most renowned works in English literature. Anonymous poses one possible answer, focusing on a time when cloak-and-dagger political intrigue, illicit romances in the Royal Court, and the schemes of greedy nobles hungry for the power of the throne were exposed in the most unlikely of places: the London stage.”

and here is the trailer:-

Related posts:

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Campaigns Against Anonymous Film Celebrating Shakespeare’s Birth 26 February 1564 – Baptism of Christopher Marlowe Elizabeth, Seymour and Shakespeare A Video to Celebrate William Shakespeare’s Birthday! William Shakespeare Happy Birthday William Shakespeare and RIP 22 January 1552 – Execution of Edward Seymour William Shakespeare’s resting place Christopher Marlowe’s “Edward II” The Arthur Dudley Myth