Shakespeare beyond doubt
Subtitle: evidence, argument, controversy
By: edited by Paul Edmondson and Stanley Wells
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2013
Language: eng
Number of pages: 284
ISBN-13: 9781107017597; 9781107603288
Subjects: Authorship
Description: "Did Shakespeare write Shakespeare? The authorship question has been much treated in works of fiction, film and television, provoking interest all over the world. Sceptics have proposed many candidates as the author of Shakespeare's works, including Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe and Edward De Vere, the seventeenth Earl of Oxford. But why and how did the authorship question arise and what does surviving evidence offer in answer to it? This authoritative, accessible and frequently entertaining book sets the debate in its historical context and provides an account of its main protagonists and their theories. Presenting the authorship of Shakespeare's works in relation to historiography, psychology and literary theory, twenty-three distinguished scholars reposition and develop the discussion. The book explores the issues in the light of biographical, textual and bibliographical evidence to bring fresh perspectives to an intriguing cultural phenomenon"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: General introduction Paul Edmondson and Stanley Wells; Part I. Sceptics: Introduction to Part One Paul Edmondson and Stanley Wells; 1. The unreadable Delia Bacon Graham Holderness; 2. The case for Bacon Alan Stewart; 3. The case for Marlowe Charles Nicholl; 4. The life and theatrical interests of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford Alan H. Nelson; 5. The unusual suspects Matt Kubus; Part II. Shakespeare as Author: Introduction to Part Two Paul Edmondson and Stanley Wells; 6. Theorizing Shakespeare's authorship Andrew Hadfield; 7. Allusions to Shakespeare to 1642 Stanley Wells; 8. Shakespeare as collaborator John Jowett; 9. Authorship and the evidence of stylometrics MacDonald P. Jackson; 10. What does textual evidence reveal about the author? James Mardock and Eric Rasmussen; 11. Shakespeare and Warwickshire David Kathman; 12. Shakespeare and school Carol Rutter; 13. Shakespeare tells lies Barbara Everett; Part III. A Cultural Phenomenon: Did Shakespeare Write Shakespeare?: Introduction to Part Three Paul Edmondson and Stanley Wells; 14. 'This palpable device': authorship and conspiracy in Shakespeare's life Kate McLuskie; 15. Amateurs and professionals: regendering Bacon Andrew Murphy; 16. Fictional treatments of Shakespeare's authorship Paul Franssen; 17. The declaration of reasonable doubt Stuart Hampton-Reeves; 18. 'There won't be puppets, will there?': 'Heroic' authorship and the cultural politics of Anonymous Douglas M. Lanier; 19. 'The Shakespeare establishment' and the Shakespeare authorship discussion Paul Edmondson; Afterword James Shapiro; A selected reading list Hardy Cook.