William Shakespeare - The Time & Life of the World's Greatest Writer | Free Documentary History

William Shakespeare - The Time & Life of the World's Greatest Writer | History Documentary
Watch 'Cracking the Shakespeare Code' here: bit.ly/3fIxZu4
This programme celebrates the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death on April 23rd 2016. In collaboration with Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust, we unlock some of the mysteries surrounding Shakespeare’s life and the legacy of his work across the globe.
John Nettles takes us on a journey through the dangerous and dynamic times of Shakespeare’s life and reveals something of the real man who transformed the London theatre and the English language, yet remained a Stratford man.
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[@FreeDocumentaryHistory]

This programme celebrates the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death on April 23rd 2016. In collaboration with Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust, we unlock some of the mysteries surrounding Shakespeare’s life and the legacy of his work across the globe. John Nettles takes us on a journey through the dangerous and dynamic times of Shakespeare’s life and reveals something of the real man who transformed the London theater and the English language, yet remained a Stratford man.

[@roberts3784]

Rubbish. It is fine that the programme celebrates his death, because at the time no one else did, and certainly no educated or literary notables paid any attention. Not one word at the time that Shaksper died about the famous author, because the Stratford businessman/front man was not the author. The monument erected in Stratford depicted a grain dealer.

[@Nullifidian]

@@roberts3784 So William Basse's elegy titled in at least one manuscript copy, "On Mr. Wm. Shakespeare He Dyed Aprill 1616" isn't "word at the time" that Shakespeare died? Incidentally, Basse's elegy is also the first known reference to the death of the very popular playwright Francis Beaumont two months earlier, whose collaborations with John Fletcher ushered in the trend of tragicomedies in Jacobean England. Why aren't you making the same objections about Beaumont's supposed lack of posthumous recognition? The monument erected in Stratford was up by 1619 at the latest (and was probably erected within the year, if Lena Cowen Orlin's persuasive argument about it being carved during Shakespeare's lifetime is correct) when John Weever came to town doing research for his book _Ancient Funeral Monuments_ . In his notes, he copied down the Latin and English inscription on Shakespeare's monument. The Latin part likens Shakespeare to a "Virgil for art" ("arte Maronem"-Virgil's cognomen was Maro) and the English inscription says that "all that he [Shakespeare] hath writ | Leaves living art but page to serve his wit." Thanks to Weever, we can be certain that these inscriptions were as they appear today from the beginning. And if that wasn't enough, Weever noted down in the margin that this was a funerary monument for "William Shakespeare the famous Poet". Weever had also praised Shakespeare during his life in _Epigrams in the Oldest Cut and Newest Fashion_ in "Ad Gulielmum Shakespeare". Weever makes a point of how he "saw thine issue", showing that he'd been in the audience for at least one of Shakespeare's plays, and he references _Romeo and Juliet_ as well as a "Richard" that is probably _Richard III_ on the internal evidence of the poem, as well as the narrative poems _Venus and Adonis_ and _The Rape of Lucrece_ . William Basse, whom I mentioned, also references Shakespeare's monument in his elegy, in which he calls Shakespeare a "rare tragedian" and advocates for three other writers-Geoffrey Chaucer, Edmund Spenser, and Francis Beaumont-to make room for Shakespeare in Westminster Abbey. Leonard Digges references "thy Stratford monument" in his poem for the First Folio, in which Shakespeare is identified as the "deceased Author" and addressed as "Master", an honorific he was entitled to by virtue of his coat of arms, which made him a gentleman. At the time, there was only _one_ William Shakespeare entitled to the status of gentleman thanks to his coat of arms, and it's the man who was a "player" (actor) according to the York Herald Ralph Brooke, and whose father, John Shakespeare, had been a magistrate and justice of the peace in Stratford-upon-Avon and who had married the daughter and heir of the Arden family, local gentry in Warwickshire who could trace their ancestry back to before the Conquest, according to the head of the College of Arms William Dethick and the Clarenceux King of Arms William Camden. Said Shakespeare's coat of arms also matches the one on the funerary monument. William Camden praised Shakespeare along with a number of other writers three years after the controversy raised by Dethick as "one of the most pregnant wits of these our times, whom succeeding ages may justly admire" in his _Remains_ . In the 1630s, Lieutenant Hammond went through Stratford with his company and wrote about "a neat monument of that famous poet, Wm. Shakespeare, who was born here." Finally, in the 1640s, William Dugdale sketched the monument for his book _The Antiquities of Warwickshire_ . Shakespeare-deniers eyeballing the sketch and claiming that the cushion is actually a sack of grain is the _only_ basis for the assertion that the monument honored a grain dealer. But Dugdale not only included a sketch, but he also copied down the inscriptions just as Weever had done. The inscriptions clearly honor a writer and they always did. Moreover, the listing for Shakespeare's monument in the index says, "William Shakespeare, the Poet, his Monument and Epitaph". Finally, Dugdale himself said that "One thing more, in reference to this antient Town [Stratford-upon-Avon], is observable, that it gave birth and sepulture [burial] to our late famous Poet, Will. Shakespere, whose Monument I have inserted in my discourse of the Church [Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon]." There are numerous examples of funerary monuments of the style of Shakespeare's that honor scholars by depicting them in subfuscs with a cushion on which their hands or a book rests. Shakespeare's monument merely alters the convention for his profession as a writer. There are _no examples_ of merchants being depicted with sacks of their wares in funerary monuments, as if they're about to offer you a knock-down deal before heading off to the afterlife. So of these five 17th century witnesses of Shakespeare's funerary monument, all _five_ were agreed that it honored a poet/tragedian/author, two of them noted that Shakespeare had been born in Stratford, and two of them copied down the inscriptions that clearly honor a writer, including one within just a few years of Shakespeare's death. So I think that, on the whole, it's better to trust what the eyewitnesses said rather than what Shakespeare-deniers operating off a guesstimate about an inaccurate sketch believe about Shakespeare's monument.

[@MuhammadYousafKazmi]

A matchless english poet who touched the depth of human love and attitudes thoroughly🎉

[@LouielamsonTranNguyen]

William Shakespeare, the renowned English poet, playwright, and actor, stands as one of the greatest literary figures in the history of the English language, often referred to as 'the world's pre-eminent dramatist.' Six of his most celebrated works include Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, Julius Caesar, King Lear, and A Midsummer Night's Dream, which have left an indelible mark on global culture. His contributions span both comedic and political theater, captivating audiences for over six centuries, and his influence continues to shape human society today. Thanks for sharing the video.

[@josephmusyimi5059]

I am a student of English and Literature ,William Shakespeare is one of my favourite authors ,he was in my humble view a master of the English language 🙏

[@Endgame707]

Willam Shakespeare Was Turkish 🇹🇷

[@DVigilante7]

​@@Endgame707 😐👉🚪

[@TheStockwell]

@@Endgame707 No. He was a Muslim who was born in Lompoc, California and raised in Samoa by a family of Jesuit priests.

[@astro3469]

@@TheStockwell Did SHakespeare invent Allah

[@TheStockwell]

@@astro3469 No. The Buddha did. It says so in the Bible. 😐

[@mannymoseley4005]

Some of my favorite artists, writers: William Shakespeare Gustave Flaubert Jane Austen Charlotte Bronte Mary Higgins Clark David Baldacci John Grisham Thank you for posting this video. I appreciate it.

[@neilcilliers8443]

I've dabbled in Shakespeare for a while, but today I finally bought a second hand version of "The complete works of Shakespeare" Wish me luck. "Farwell GOD knows when we shall meet again"

[@mannymoseley4005]

I'm currently reading the same book. I find Shakespeare his life and the language he uses in his writing fascinating. Happy reading Enjoy.

[@neilcilliers8443]

@@mannymoseley4005 Thanks, I've done Hamlet, The taming of the shrew, Romeo and Juliet, The merchant of Venice and A comedy of errors so far, and have watched several documentaries on him, many thanks and happy reading. Sincerely Neil Cilliers

[@megenberg8]

one needs the works annotated by the scholar Rouse.

[@dalehill3170]

Happy travels!

[@mannymoseley4005]

William Shakespeare is one of my favorite artists, writer. My favorite of his writing, Hamlet and McBeth. Thank you so much for posting this. I find his life fascinating. What a fascinating man.

[@sachajattpunjabi7526]

Simply brilliant. Been Shakespeare fan since age of 10

[@amandeepsaini1130]

I fell in love with Shakespeare when my English teacher taught me Julius Caesar in class 10.

[@deebaker9199]

Wow this is amazing...thankyou so much. I'm so ignorant as I was under the impression that no one knew much about Shakespeare as a person, it was enthralling for me to hear so much about who he was. Truly greatful ❤😊

[@sixwingsram]

He was and still remains the world's greatest writer in all of human history. His language and understanding of human nature is without peer.

[@michaelwright8896]

I prefer Dostoevsky.

[@jennifermelton9598]

Dante and Chaucer say Hello

[@YT.R_Oxido]

@@jennifermelton9598 shakespeare>>, dante did a very nice writting with some fictions but i dont know about geofrey though

[@Dontbestupidlittleboy]

​@@michaelwright8896 ❤️❤️ both Dostoevsky and Shakespeare are the absolute greatest writers in history

[@joslynaarons6885]

The most thorough account of the background of the greatest English author who has and continues to touch our lives. The raconteurs with their hypnotic voices have made William Shakespeare so palpable but yet still mysterious to keep us intrigued. A thousand thank you 🙏

[@PhilipFClark]

This is an absolutely wonderful introduction for my students, to his life and works. Thank you!

[@oobrocks]

I knew little of him so it's a wonderful doc!

[@oobrocks]

Lol

[@plywoodcarjohnson5412]

He wrestles questions, not so great, but much more important to the individual than the greatest questions. And so therefore those who try to wrestle greater questions can never compete with him.

[@poompkin_205]

Thank you very much for the learning. William Shakespeare is truly magnificent figure, an inspiration to this day English Language.

[@apollocobain8363]

Amazing that the birthplace of England's most famous writer was torn down in 1759! Even more incredible that an illiterate son of illiterate parents who could barely sign his own name wrote all those works! And he did so in secret with no one ever referring to him as a writer, not even his own daughter. Never acted in plays of Shakespeare. Never complained about all the apocrypha. Became obsessed with Italy but never traveled there. Lost equity in the Globe, going from 12.5% down to 7%, at the height of undocumented popularity. Snuck off back to Stratford to die without anyone noticing his absence until 7 years later. What an incredible man! Truly incredible in the fullest sense of that word.

[@sandeshkhillare7478]

Amazing documentary of amazing man❤️

[@tellitasitis]

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, The bard of Avon wrote plays, a wondrous dream. From tragedies to comedies, he wrote them all, And left a legacy that still enthralls. Romeo and Juliet, a tale of love and strife, Two star-crossed lovers, whose fate was rife. Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, a tragic tale, Of revenge and madness, that left us pale. Macbeth, the Scottish play, a tale of ambition, Of murder and guilt, and a bloody mission. Othello, the Moor of Venice, a tale of jealousy, Of love and betrayal, and a tragic destiny. King Lear, the aging monarch, a tale of family, Of power and pride, and a tragic destiny. The Tempest, a magical island, a tale of wonder, Of love and forgiveness, and a hopeful thunder. A Midsummer Night's Dream, a tale of fairies, Of love and mischief, and a magical series. The Merchant of Venice, a tale of justice, Of love and revenge, and a moral compass. From Twelfth Night to Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare's plays are a treasure, worth discovering. His words and characters, still alive today, A testament to his genius, in every way.

[@sophielegault2278]

Happy birthday Shakespeare🎉

[@user-id3tx9ds3q]

I am watching this video for admission test 😀😀😀...

[@flianq]

same with homework

[@Tom26288]

I got an speech

[@TheAbrantino]

I like trains

[@Jeffhowardmeade]

Did you get in?

[@shaanroy8976]

& I am watching this for bcs

[@marklauzon186]

One of THE most BEAUTIFUL spots on this planet is STRATFORD UPON AVON. I walked and walked and walked. Anne Hathaway Cottage,the roads,the Theatre. Just gorgeous!!!

[@bruceweaver1518]

Excellent. Really liked the narrator.

[@Retro77691]

William Shakespeare Was Russian 🇷🇺

[@USA50_]

Thanks 😊👍🇺🇸🇬🇧❤️

[@Retro77691]

Willam Shakespeare Was Turkish 🇹🇷

[@1seansouth]

It is the most shattering experience of a young man's life when one morning he awakes and, quite reasonably, says to himself "I will never play the Dane"

[@christinehjorth9559]

wtf????!! wannabee......learn your history! see ya around cousin ;-)

[@philipoconnor4263]

An excellent production, well done John Nettles, nicely done Master Shakespeare.

[@bamideletijani8683]

I am watching this video learn about a great man

[@nitramruk]

I just love chief inspector Burnaby teaching me about Shakespeare🤩

[@ThomasAllan-up4td]

To be...is not a question. It's a verb . And there is no question about it.

[@jystme2437]

Was he or was he not that is the question. I love Shakespeare and i had a natural curiosity of who was he? did he write these works? Now I dont care I just enjoy the words. 🦋 Barnaby who I love will find out😇🦋

[@richardpotter6313]

He was Francis Bacon, engineer of modern English mechanics. He penned under the name Hiram Abiff, ancient writer of high masonic structure as well.

[@StrongGreaved]

@@richardpotter6313 He was William Shakespeare of Stratford-Upon-Avon.

[@richardpotter6313]

@@StrongGreaved ...also

[@wazl]

@@richardpotter6313 Sir Francis Bacon may have been an occultist but he did not write the Folio

[@brendadion7868]

John Nettles, among my favorite British voices❤

[@Gr3g0r1ah]

Shoutout: Mr Fields Year 10 English class 🔥

[@ghtbl]

The writer of Shakespeare was actually the 17th Earl of Oxford, Edward De Vere.

[@Tolstoy111]

No he really wasn’t. Unless you think DeVere wrote plays after his death that involved events after his death.

[@andrewstevenson118]

@@Tolstoy111 Currently watching "Upstart Crow", which is an excellent series starring David Mitchell. I mansplained to my wife this very theory. Ditto the Bacon one. 🙂

[@johnbeattie5014]

Consider: • We have the *actual document*: the 1616 last will and testament of William Shakspere (notice the spelling which is different from “Shakespeare”) from town records of Stratford-upon-Avon. It shows his estate had no books or manuscripts in it or any elements of writing or literature...*whatsoever*. • The will included no mention of eighteen Shakespeare plays which, up through 1616, had never appeared in print. Where were the manuscripts for these, and how and when should they get published? According to Shakspere’s will: *crickets*. (Later, of course, published: 1623.) • None of Shakspere’s in-laws, friends, or close associates ever referred to him in their own correspondence or anywhere else as being a writer, even when they were discussing other writers such as Michael Drayton. • Ardent researchers scouring exhaustively over centuries have never found a single letter...or for that matter any other document or even casual note, not “the slightest scrap of paper”...Shakspere ever wrote to anyone in his entire life. • No one has ever found any records of patronage or payments to Shakspere for writing, or any praises or thanks or even mere acknowledgments for such work. It’s not that we lack records from Shakspere’s life - we do have 70+ documents - but they all pertain to commercial and real estate transactions, lawsuits, theater investments, acting, etc.. Not a single one pertains to any elements of writing or literature ...*whatsoever*. • Additional known indications point not only to Shakspere but also his parents, wife, and daughters as having been completely illiterate...i.e. supposedly, the great author who created admirable, learned, articulate, bright, witty women as characters never bothered to educate his own daughters...?!?! • When Shakspere died in that year 1616, no one in literary circles paid any attention. All these points above are plain FACTS, which even traditionalist Shakespearean scholars don’t dispute. Surely these FACTS render untenable, if not outright preposterous...rivaling SANTA CLAUS...any notion that William Shakspere of Stratford-upon-Avon created the greatest works in the English language. Google "Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship". Google "The Shakespeare Mystery PBS Frontline 1989 Judy Woodruff KZbin".

[@livanna8028]

only watching this for english class

[@chrisnatmills7802]

Love this actor

[@user-xt3eq6pe1k]

I teach 9th grade English and we are just about to start our unit on Shakespeare. Would this video be good as an introduction? I plan on going through a bit but not fully watching it until we watch it together as a class. Just looking for opinions.

[@susannahfaria3588]

I use it before I teach Julius Caesar. It is a bit of a summary of Michael Woods' but because of the length it is probably better for the classroom.

[@korinnab.2318]

It's great. My university literature professor had us watch this for our Shakespeare course

[@amandeepsaini1130]

great way to teach

[@Whatinthefdoyouwant]

Also if you know the devil may cry. Virgil and Dante. Are from Rome's Sparta. They are basically saying the art comes from Rome's playrights. So they loved history from the originals

[@johnnichols2739]

I don't know wots going on I pick my phone up things gust hapen I love history historiese lots of athertings like the future

[@williamtstrouse6134]

Ad after ad, every few minutes!

[@anyaehiegbujo]

Subscribe for youtub premium and be one free of ads

[@ronzopower5580]

Buy Premium 😌

[@reginaldgreen290]

Best entertainer ever recorded.

[@margarettemullings2527]

Noted

[@peterchristie1096]

The most remarkable thing about Shakespeare was that he was English and not Irish.

[@MapleSyrupPoet]

King Learrr 🤴 ahhh yes, king Lear

[@anthonybrakus5280]

Why didn't you tell them about the newly discovered Shroud of Stratford. That should wrap up any questions as to authorship.

[@yusumnn2007]

I think people are more interested in how he did it but I only know what he did after watching yr video

[@davekoenig9935]

The novel Day of the Condor, touched on a strip code in the doggerel last page in the Works of Shakespeare. Kings of Sparta used these on matching batons. But I think you must grasp a spear, before you can shake it in your enemies faces. So what diameter do I need to turn a cylinder of wood to bring the coded message out of that doggerel???

[@yy19aos]

Hank Williams was nicknamed the Hillbilly Shakersphere, and his last name is Williams.

[@boneytony5041]

We don’t know much; but ease off with the background Muzak

[@MapleSyrupPoet]

Who is Vincent Joseph Costello? Ahh, yes ...always questions 🧖 and mysteries about 🍁🎑🔮

[@SrimanArcharyaJBC]

William Shakespeare is my ancestor the name holds a secret Atar Codex of my Indian Hindu Kingdom. William Shakespeare = Mai Lliw Earespek sha = My Leave:, Om Alpha Respect Sa. Atar : Keep All. The story’s are of the previous family kingdoms of mine after The Guido colonial south and Central America Empires of my ancestors. After the new type of tea called gunpowder was made and exported from South America my ancestors placed a Katha into the Catholic religious system titled coded “My Leave” this is a quick summary of events that where consolidated events of history of the uk from 2nd century where my ancestor Bhagwan Chanakya Chitroda ( Alfred the Great ) migrated people with his global army. The events may even be older to my other ancestor Bhagwan BadraKal Chitroda 8000 years ago. The summary of all the books and collections of stories are a evolution through the Indian Hindu Khumbar community time within the UK until the 16th century. King James was my own ancestor and with the same Atar codex = Semaj = Samaj or Indian Hindu Khumbar community. The other hidden continuation is Semar where he is known as Bhagwan Semar Chitroda is my Kingdom bank creator Atar code. Any way it continues with many interesting notes and hidden era information that was written and logged as Gods word to the People. 🤴🏽🕉🔺➕

[@Jeffhowardmeade]

William Shakespeare's last living descendant died in 1670. He is not your ancestor.

[@TheStockwell]

I believe you. Sincerely yrs., Marie, Queen of Romania Current location: Mars

[@MapleSyrupPoet]

Taurus ♉️ sign April 23 ...I am a Capricorn ♑️ sign ...2 earth signs ...would have got along well with Will 😅🎭🫂

[@marktazz4521]

0:05

[@JohnDeere165HydroOfficial]

Shout out Mr.Mason English 9

[@michaeljohanson9504]

My namith izus I am and that is alloth that I am! Shakespeare & Popeye

[@bielbl5124]

I can't help seeing Inspector Barnaby

[@jillyburt]

too many ads - mute and scroll away unseen

[@stephenjablonsky1941]

The recent discovery of the Shroud of Avon proves without a doubt that Shakespeare wrote all those plays and sonnets.

[@shelleyharris9349]

23rd ☮️✝️🌍🎼🪽🪶✌️😎💐🦋🌞 32

[@grevberg]

Yet another doco where a grain merchant and real estate investor by the name of Shakspere is confused with Shake-Spear, a wealthy well-connected aristocrat writing under a pseudonym

[@Tolstoy111]

You think an aristocrat wrote that fawning letter to the Earl of Southampton begging for patronage? No high born personage would use servile language like that.

[@Jeffhowardmeade]

And nobody who had been to Italy would think the Adige was a tidal estuary like the Thames.

[@andrewstevenson118]

@@Tolstoy111 Sorry for the double message. Just read some more comments. Why do you even engage with people like that? Sirrah, that way lieth madness. 🙂

[@supersurge3620]

someone pls reply to this and tell me a summary cause i have to watch this for school and 43 minutes is a lot

[@cartercrowther3125]

Mrs.bailey?

[@supersurge3620]

@@cartercrowther3125 YES LMAOOO

[@tophat7218]

@@cartercrowther3125 I need the summary! It's late and i'm freaking out! help!

[@cartercrowther3125]

@@tophat7218 she docks 75% for late work so it’s not even worth turning in

[@tophat7218]

@@cartercrowther3125 shiz thanks

[@MapleSyrupPoet]

Very tough to be an artist 🎨 to come out, as an artist ...world has more use for an electrician, than an artist ...ohhh, but the best of artists, are more valuable than gold ...especially if your bold ...but not necessarily brauny 😉

[@cooperwesley1536]

I assumed I would be watching a biographical documentary of the 17th Earl of Oxford. Alas... just more mythology.

[@Tolstoy111]

The guy who died years before the plays continued to be written?

[@Jeffhowardmeade]

Why would you want to watch a documentary about someone killing servants, buggering boys, and wasting money?

[@roberts3784]

You are following the incorrect dating. Do you think serious scholars would propose an author who died before the writing? Whose the fool here?

[@TheStockwell]

The Earl of Oxford also wrote "Jane Eyre," "Mein Kampf," and faked the moon landings under the name "Stanley Kubrick."

[@aleonyohan6745]

There is a mountain of evidence that points to Edward devere. And there is a mountain of evidence that damn near proves that the man from Stanford was not the writer, but let's ignore all that. How about all the Victorian Scholars who agree on this point.

[@christophermorgan3261]

Full many a morning have I seen flatter the mountaintops with sovereign eye kissing with golden face the meadows green gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy

[@boogiebegs]

psst, it's Oxford...

[@phatatduong1963]

Through story of your I'm must understand why humans kinks oh you is talent glad thanks my god you this is aliens,,,,,,,

[@Whatinthefdoyouwant]

Dude these mfs touching 100 years old books without gloves really pisses me off... Or it just my OCD..... The oils on hands. Touching old books without gloves pisses me off.

[@demzer]

The new rule for conservationists is not to wear gloves, but simply wash their hands. I am assuming this is based on good science. I didn’t know about it either until I watched a video about the first folio.

[@leroux-ianni]

How come he is the world's greatest writer as the title of this video suggests? You meant to say the English one perhaps !

[@Jeffhowardmeade]

If by "greatest" is meant "best known", then Shakespeare is certainly the greatest writer in the world. Everyone knows who he is.

[@leroux-ianni]

@@Jeffhowardmeade then according to your reasoning and logic he is and he's NOT, AT THE SAME TIME, the greatest writer 🤪

[@Tolstoy111]

Who is then? If you did a worldwide poll he would almost certainly come in on top.

[@Tolstoy111]

@@leroux-ianni There is no other writer who covered as much thematic and emotional ground and did it so well. At least after the Greeks, Shakespeare and Dante are the top 2. After them people argue. Tolstoy maybe?

[@simonrc179]

Ummm. No.

[@oobrocks]

Was he called Bill? Not joking

[@Jeffhowardmeade]

No. Will was the typical nickname for William. Bill didn't come about until late in the 17th Century.

[@kashlolong2641]

I will marry Julia the hippie queenuk. 😊

[@DW-nb2zc]

Should be de Vere not Shakespeare

[@Tolstoy111]

No evidence for that at all. And all those plays written after De Vere died.

[@DW-nb2zc]

@@Tolstoy111 Doesn't mean anything He could've just not have published them

[@Tolstoy111]

@@DW-nb2zc informed by events that took place after his death?

[@australianmade2659]

Shakespeares real name in EDWARD DE VERE

[@Tolstoy111]

Nope. No evidence for anyone but him.

[@australianmade2659]

@@Tolstoy111 correct there is literally no evidence for the illiterate William shaksper

[@Tolstoy111]

@@australianmade2659 The fact that everyone referred to him as the writer. Ben Jonson saying he knew little Latin and Greek and was from Stratford? Or was Ben Jonson in on the conspiracy?

[@australianmade2659]

@@Tolstoy111 yes.

[@Jeffhowardmeade]

What about Archibald Armstrong, John Weever, Leonard Digges, Thomas Screvins, John Ward, Richard Hunt, William Davenant, Robert Dugdale, John Heminges, John Webster, Robert Greene, Thomas Watson, Francis Beaumont, John Davies, Thomas Freeman, Nicholas Okes, Nathaniel Butter, Edmund Howes, John Stow, William Basse, Hugh Holland, and James Mabbe? Were they all in on it as well?

[@kunagero6988]

чо

[@DavidKeener-jf8xb]

Was he a fake?

[@Tolstoy111]

No

[@DavidKeener-jf8xb]

Are you sure?

[@Tolstoy111]

@@DavidKeener-jf8xb yes. No evidence for anyone else.

[@martinkennedy2400]

...what? John Nettles narrating? what a poor, poor choice shallow from the start

[@richardfurno8391]

His name wasn't "Shakespeare". It was "Shakspere" at his birth (the record in the Holy Trinity Church) and it was "Shakspear" at his death! No medial 'e'. He was never "Shakespeare". Look at his six existing signatures and you'll see he couldn't write! There are more than 70 existing documents of his life. All of them describe a business man. His parents were illiterate. His daughters were illiterate! His wife was illiterate. There's is NO record that he was educated. He never left England yet 13 plays are set in Italy and show accurate knowledge of Italian places, far too accurate to find out about at the local pub. Shakespeare knew English, Latin, Greek, Italian, French and Spanish (he used sources that were untranslated into English). Diana Price decided she'd research 25 Elizabethan writers to see if any of them left evidence that they wrote. She looked for ten kinds of evidence. She found evidence for 24 of the 25 writers showing that they were writers! For only one did she find NO evidence - William Shakespeare - who wrote more than any of the other 24! That's because he didn't exist. It was a pen name! - - - William Shakspere of Stratford died a rich man and left NO money to educate his grandchildren. He gave no money to the Stratford grammar school. He left NO books (which were quite valuable and he had the money to buy them)! No musical instruments (Shakespeare wrote music into his plays)! No artwork, No maps. He had something like 5 houses and no books! William Shakspere bought shares in London theater companies. He was involved with them for years. He was probably a frontman for the man who used the pen name "William Shakespeare".

[@roberts3784]

Yes, and the supposedly great author of wise and learned women characters did not educate his own daughters, who were illiterate.

[@Tolstoy111]

So who wrote that fawning letter to the Earl of Southampton begging for patronage? Not an aristocrat certainly.

[@roberts3784]

@@Tolstoy111 The “fawning” dedication of Lucrece to Southampton is written in the aristocratic style and of note uses the word “moiety”, a legal term, not one Shaksper would have learned at grammar school. What we read in the poems and sonnets dedicated to Southampton are attentions of an older man enamored with the young Earl and concerned about the Earl’s personal future. Not the stuff a commoner would write to a noble under the guardianship of the Queen. Correction: Sonnets not dedicated to Earl of Southampton; widely argued that the unmarried, effeminate Earl is the “fair youth”.

[@Tolstoy111]

@@roberts3784 He probably got help writing it as one would ask for advice about a cover letter. The plays are loaded with mistakes. Geographical, historical, anachronisms etc. They bear signs of haste. Also it would be much more difficult for an aristocrat to capture working class people and humor than the other way around. The plays do not come across like the stiff, and formal masques that dominated the court.

[@roberts3784]

@@Tolstoy111 yeah, sure, he probably hired a tutor upon arriving in London, since he owned no books and there is zero contemporary evidence that he was a writer and could barely scratch out his signature in six different ways.

[@chris.asi_romeo]

Edward de vere Is the real William Shakespeare

[@Tolstoy111]

Not at all.

[@Jeffhowardmeade]

He wasn't even a very good earl.

[@TheStockwell]

Sure. You bet. Uh huh. 😂

[@stjeancharles6087]

This guy is Bernie madoff of literature. Lmao

[@Jeffhowardmeade]

In a way, you are unintentionally correct. He lifted all of his plots and tropes from earlier writers, repackaged them in beautiful language, and passed them on to new audiences. And we've done the same with Shakespeare.

[@Tolstoy111]

@@Jeffhowardmeade and the people he got them from had gotten them from others

[@Jeffhowardmeade]

@@Tolstoy111 Counting the number of handoffs for some of Shakespeare's stories has me running out of fingers and starting on my toes. The Winter's Tale has so many antecedents I wouldn't be surprised if there's a cave painting of it somewhere.

[@gshell2520]

Shakespeare didn't write any of that his parents weren't literate and neither were his children it's no way such a supposed brilliant writer would teach his kids to read or write 🤔.. Francis bacon wrote all his work he also wrote the king james bible and was a freemason 💯

[@Jeffhowardmeade]

There's no evidence that anyone in his family was illiterate, and his older daughter could read and write. Francis Bacon had no sense of humor whatsoever. I doubt he could have sat through a Shakespeare play, let alone written one. He had nothing to do with the King James and Freemasonry did not exist during his lifetime.

[@StrongGreaved]

Why would it matter if his parents were literate or not? If his daughters weren't literate, it's likely because only about an eighth of all women were literate during that time period.

[@Vladimir_Sin]

[@4houndswhoheal479]

Whoever wrote this doesn't know the difference between History & soap opera.