The documentary evidence is mundane. The Greene and Chettle evidence is definitely argumentative and open to interpretation. The lack of evidence up to this point does not necessarily work against Shakspere being the poet-playwright Shakespeare. But it does reveal the extent to which orthodox biographers will manufacture and fantasize a youth without any solid documentary support. Admittedly, documents from the Elizabethan era are scarce.
Many literary figures have few or no surviving documents.
It's important to keep in mind, however, that when orthodox biographers say that the life of the literary Shakespeare is well-documented, what they mean is that there are many mundane business or legal documents that have no bearing on the authorship question. When the documents are sorted with the authorship in mind, only a handful actually have relevance. Up to this point, both the Greene and Chettle documents have definite relevance. Shagspere 1588 3. All Rights Reserved.