Comments on: Who Wrote Shakespeare? Who Cares?

By: Amateur Reader

Amateur Reader — Mon, 19 May 2008 19:16:30 +0000

There’s also a strange prestige issue here. We know far more about Shakespeare than we do about Thomas Kyd or John Webster, but no one bothers with trying to prove their works were written by someone else. It’s just as likely, or unlikely, but no one cares.

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 12 May 2008 02:23:06 +0000

I’m with the camp here that’s against the authorship debate, but mostly because I find peoples’ tendency to try to discredit great men deplorable.

By: Roger

Roger — Sat, 03 May 2008 17:34:15 +0000

Hi Gedaly,

You aren’t alone. You’re defending a perspective that, however improbable it may seem to an informed view, is still a majority opinion.

Its nice that you listened to Mark’s podcast and are able to admit that “you’ve certainly done your homework.”

Cheers,

“Doc”

By: Gedaly

Gedaly — Fri, 02 May 2008 08:06:02 +0000

Yay Rick! I’m glad I’m not alone out there. I’m a little perturbed when I hear about English or Theatre classes where the students spend a good portion of the Shakespeare unit discussing whether he wrote his plays or not. It’s definitely worth discussing… but that leaves less time for learning about and enjoying the plays!

Wow, an author of a popular book is reading my blog? I feel honored! Hi Mark! I must admit that I have listened to much of the podcast edition of your work in the past. You’ve certainly done your homework and that’s always nice too see. The “second part of the story” that you mentioned is an interesting story indeed.

By: A.K.Farrar

A.K.Farrar — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:45:24 +0000

An advert, by any other name, is just an advert.

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 01 May 2008 18:35:58 +0000

Some actually do care. The plays and poems are one thing if written, a la Shakespeare In Love, by a player-playwright as a commercial enterprise — or whether there’s also a controversial, political layer of meaning, written by a courtly insider, commenting on the power politics of the Elizabethan government. It’s that second part of the story that has been very much neglected in telling Shakespeare’s story. It’s that part of the story that I was most interested in refocusing on in my book — http://shakespearebyanothername.com. Click on the “Audio” tab for free downloadable audios/podcasts. There’s also a free Google Earth atlas to explore the whole of late Renaissance Europe that’s being depicted in these immortal plays, whether we recognize the original context or not.

By: Rick

Rick — Thu, 01 May 2008 17:43:18 +0000

Tired or not, this viewpoint is one I do appreciate.

So many people are more interested in finding out “what’s wrong” with something instead of simply embracing “what’s right!” There’s nothing simpler to do than to point blame or create rumors based on bits of information surrounded by no solid fact. In this specific case these works of literature are the same works of literature no matter who wrote them. Now while I think it’s just downright silly (and this is just my personal opinion) to spend time trying to point them to a different author, Gedaly’s point that these works remain great regardless is a solid foundation to work from.

Of course I love the discussions and opinions on this. I just happen to agree with this one… no matter how tired the words were.

By: Gedaly

Gedaly — Thu, 01 May 2008 08:05:26 +0000

Roger, your link point to the Shakespeare Fellowship so I’ll assume that you have something to do with it. In which case I mean no disrespect, there’s nothing wrong with the quest for knowledge and truth. It just so happens that my personal preference is not to go down that particular path. I noticed that I didn’t craft my words as well as I should have… I posted while rather tired.

I’m all in favor of discussion on any issue so you are also entitled to share your opinion.

You’ve got some good points Alan. One’s understanding, however limited, of the author does skew the text to some extent. I suppose I do care, but lets just say that my human need to ‘know’ gravitates more strongly toward other issues.

By: A.K.Farrar

A.K.Farrar — Thu, 01 May 2008 05:43:14 +0000

Roger, Shakespeare is dead (and also anyone else involved in writing the plays) – so he doesn’t feel anything.

El Geek in his (good) review of ‘Shakespeare’s Wife’ gives a key to the many locks needed to be opened in answering this question: The very human need to ‘know’ who is responsible (and what that person is like) for things in our personal world – especially for something which impacts so strongly on that world – for someone to say ‘I don’t care’ about something that affects them deeply is a little bit of self-illusion.

It is a question of honesty and belief in the truth if that honesty is not there.

It is also, I think, a question of context – we interpret everything ‘in context’ – the context given by false biography has a nasty habit of skewing the text – think of the bru-ha-ha over the sonnets and Shakespeare ‘the gay’.
Greer’s placing him firmly in the fold of ‘wife loving husband’ will change the meaning of the text at several levels – forbidden love flies through the window …

By: Roger

Roger — Thu, 01 May 2008 02:21:57 +0000

Hey there,

Bard Blog dude.

One good turn deserves another.

Who wrote this blog?

Who cares?

How does it feel?