Can anyone answer this question about whether shakespeare wrote his plays?...?

Question

I got given this q. in a project, im only asking for help, not the whole answer, thought that would be good. Heres the question...

"Some people argue that Shkaepeare did not write all of his plays. Using your research skills, find at least one explanation for this theory and record it in your own words in your project"

Things im looking for: sites, sentences, anything really that could help me. Mainly sites because I've searched on every search engine for about 2 hours!!
Thankyou, if you give me a decent answer, I will answer one of yours in return if you leave an URL

got given this q. in a project, im only asking for help, not the whole answer, thought that would be good. Heres the question...

"Some people argue that Shkaepeare did not write all of his plays. Using your research skills, find at least one explanation for this theory and record it in your own words in your project"

Things im looking for: sites, sentences, anything really that could help me. Mainly sites because I've searched on every search engine for about 2 hours!!
Thankyou, if you give me a decent answer, I will answer one of yours in return if you leave an URL
By the way I'm 14.

Answer 1

Try searching the Shakespeare-Bacon theory. Some think that Lord Chancellor Francis Bacon wrote the plays.

The site (below) cites books like "Shakespeare is Bacon" among others. This will at least give you a good starting point.

I've also listed a couple other related sites.

Answer 2

Wm.Shakespeare wrote his very first sonnet to a female impersonator John Hughes - John gave the manuscript to a publisher name of Thomas Thorpe and so it goes. Unfortunately, none of Wm.Shakespeare's original manuscripts survive and the reason for this is because when the plays were finally catalogued in [I think] the 16th century, the publishers did not think the originals were of any importance. What we do have however, are the very first printed versions of William's plays. Who inspired WS? That's a difficult one. There is still an ongoing debatge/argument about who the actual author of the plays was. Some say that it could not have been WM since there exists hardly any real evidence for this. Problem is, if a scholar comes up with what is thought to be the real identity of the playwrite and let's say the name is John Dow - are we going to see a play called 12th Night by a John Dow? Probably not. One more piece of information about William Shakespeare. Every single day 1000 productions of William's plays go on stage around the Globe. Is there another like William? And, why the fascination with his plays? What exactly are in the plays of Wm.Shakespeare? All of life - murder, war, death, incest. You name it - more violence than a major Hollywood Blockbuster. If you'd like to see an up-to-date [1940s] version of Romeo and Juliet, see the movie "Westside Story" - it's all in there, street gangs, turf wars, just how William wrote it - more or less, but minus all those thees and thous etc. The most important 'gift' which Wm. Shakespeare gave to the world is simply that he put every single one of us on stage - "All the world is a stage....etc". We even use the term "the world stage". So, do not forget, this is opening night. There's no rehearsal. This is the big one. Go out there and make it your best. Oh yes, no loitering in the wings. Finally, I think...what is the colour most associated with Wm.Shakespeare? Green..."This green and pleasant land. This England.....etc.

Answer 3

I would recommend you go first to Wikipedia... there is a section in the Shakespeare area about the controversy...

From all that I've researched, most of the original scripts are lost or destroyed so whether what you read now is original Shakespeare is doubtful.

Also - pick a couple of his plays - his story lines and plots were typically taken from plays already being shown in Vienna and Paris...
So to some he was a copycat. I'd rather think he improved upon the original.

Answer 4

Try looking in a College or University Library. If you are a student at such, you should have no problem gaining access to the stacks and checking-out the scholarly papers on the subject... :D ...that and the actual books on the subject.

Here's a list of pages I obtained doing a quick Google search on the question of "Did Shakespeare write his own plays?"

Answer 5

The short answer is that no one really knows for sure - but a lot of people have certainly talked about it both ways!

Check out a few of these pages:

http://www.princeton.edu/~rbivens/shakespeare/
http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/shake_did_write_plays.html
http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~ahnelson/authorsh.html

A good way to search and find more information is to go to google and type in

Shakespeare authorship site:.edu

That last bit will give you websites that are only '.edu' - that is, almost all university websites, so the information will be better.

Good luck!

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Librarians - Ask us! We answer!

Answer 6

There's a bunch of stuff on the Wikipedia page below about Shakespeare not writing his work. This may be more detailed than you need, but it's at least something!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespearean_authorship_question

Answer 7

Sir Francis Bacon wrote plays with a cipher built in- a code, if you will. When the key to that cipher is applied to some Shakespearean plays, it produces legible and coherent results.

Answer 8

Anything that could help you, you say? Have you attempted talking with a librarian at the library? Wikipedia is not a valid, reliable source for information because it is written by ANYONE. A librarian, on the other hand, can direct you to books and scholarly journals containing the information you would need to do your research.

Answer 9

Look up Francis Bacon.

Answer 10

have a look at this link in wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare_Apocrypha
you could also visit your local library and ask for some help there with book references etc.
Good luck with the project.