Shakespeare by Another Name

I've just completed reading a fascinating book by Mark Anderson called "Shakespeare by Another Name". In this biography, he writes a compelling story of Edward de Vere, the English Earl of Oxford, who wrote under the pen name of "Shake-speare".

I am not a fan of Shakespeare and find it very difficult to read his plays and sonnets. However, he was obviously a very learned man, widely traveled and intimate with the upper class of England. After reading this book, I find it hard to believe that a tanner's son from the country town of Avon, with no provable schooling could have written some of the greatest works of the English language.

I see that we have two personaes, one being Shakspere the actor (as spelled on his tombstone) and the other being Shakespeare the author. The question has arisen as to why did the author choose a name already belonging to someone, and an actor to boot! I find that to be the easiest question of all to answer. It was pure coincidence that an actor would have almost the same name as the pseudonym. There was no "google" for de Vere to check on a pen name.

De Vere choose the name Shakespeare because it means to shake a spear or pen, thus being the perfect pen name for a playwright. When the plays were published, the author was listed as "Shake-speare". It was very common for pen names to be hyphenated in the 16th century.

William Shakspere's parents were illiterate as well as his siblings and children. There is no written manuscripts, letters or anything by his hand and the few signatures on record look like scribble. Not that a person cannot go to school and become literate, but keeping in mind the sixteenth century England that Will S lived in. Schools were for the privileged and wealthy. There was a grammar school in town, but there are no records as to who attended the school. Most Will S scholars believe he received his elementary schooling and then moved to London to be a law clerk. Since it has not been proven that he ever left England, how did he acquire his knowledge of Italy, or Europe? The Will S scholars believe that he learned his geography second hand and show his mistakes as "proof" that he actually never visited those countries.

Anderson's book shows that de Vere's geography of Europe in Shakespeare's plays was more correct than thought. It doesn't show ignorance, but the opposite, an intimate knowledge of Italy.

Another question arises as to why did de Vere even use a pen name. For the same reasons that modern authors use pen names, to escape censure or harassment. De Vere was a member of Queen Elizabeth's court and his plays were spoofs of the Queen and the daily life of the court. Remember Hamlet's play-within-a-play? Hamlet used the play to show his uncle that he knew the truth about his father's death. Plays were common, but subtle way to project the views of an author, much like SML today or political cartoons.

De Vere didn't want to bring shame on his family or worse, punishment to himself. At the time, freedom of speech did not exist. If the queen didn't like what you wrote, you could be censured, imprisoned, or beheaded. Anderson's book details a few of de Vere's contemporaries who were punished for their writings.

I only had to read the introduction of this book to buy it. Then, I was so hooked I read it within days. No easy feat for a book counting 800+ pages.