Shakespeare Identity Controversy Comes to SHSU

Isn't it odd that no one knows anything about Shakespeare's daily life: who hung out with the famous Will Shakespeare at the hottest party, or who spotted him on a ship headed to Italy, the setting for so many of his great plays?

Ron Song Destro, assistant professor of theatre, will share his research on the matter of the real Shakespeare on Tuesday, February 21 at 7 p.m. at the Mainstage theater.

"I've been studying this pretty much nonstop for the last seven years," said Destro.

He has presented his case at Harvard and the University of Bridgeport, among others, and he thinks the man known as Shaksper (one of the original spellings) is the very fortunate beneficiary of a case of mistaken identity.

He began studying what he calls the "primary sources:" things that were said and written about Shakespeare only in his own time.

"Many (secondary sources) are disreputable," he said. "They say he probably did this, or he may have done that. They're not fact."

He agrees with writers like Mark Twain and Ralph Waldo Emerson that Shakespeare's country lifestyle was an unlikely source for the perspective of his plays.

Emerson thought that Shakespeare's writing often has a "nobleman's perspective." His characters are all kings, queens and princes, and the rare country or lower class person is often portrayed as a clown.

Further evidence, Destro said, is found in the knowledge Shakespeare displays of medicine, astronomy, law, the Greek language, and Greek mythology. This is an unlikely education for a man who was a grain dealer, said Destro.

"When he died, there was no mention of books or manuscripts in his will. Back then, if you had them, it would be common to put them in a will."

Shakespeare also had two daughters who were barely literate. It doesn't seem possible that a literary genius would let his children grow up without a passion for books.

So how could the misconception have occurred?

Destro explained that writing was not an honorable hobby or profession in Shakespeare's time. Getting involved in theater was especially improper.

"It would be like a congressman writing a porno today," he said.

But sometimes, noblemen would use a pseudonym to publish their work. This would protect their anonymity, although their identities were often revealed after they died.

The first Shakespeare poem, Venus and Adonis , was published under the name Will Shake-spear. Names were not commonly hyphenated at that time, Destro said, and this was clearly a pun; "I will shake a spear."  

So who was the real Shakespeare?

The latest theory began when a London schoolteacher decided to start from scratch.

"He pretended that we didn't know who Shakespeare was," said Destro. "He made a list of all the qualities that Shakespeare had as a writer, and the things about his personality that were evident from his writing."

He looked at the first poem, Venus and Adonis , and worked from the assumption that this very mature work had to come from an experienced writer. Someone who had quit writing under his real name at the same time Will Shake-spear turned up.

One of the more accomplished writers of that time, the 17th Earl of Oxford, Edward De Vere, was known for his beautiful verse. He also had family members who were accomplished writers, and, as a ward of the royal court, one of the most extensive educations of the time.

De Vere graduated from Cambridge at 14. He continued with his schooling to receive a Master of Arts at 16 and then studied law at the prestigious Gray's Inn. He owned several books that would have the information Shakespeare used in his writing.

De Vere's poetic style was possibly unique for Elizabethan times. The Shakespeare Oxford Society states that Venus and Adonis' six line pentameter stanzas also occur in de Vere's poetry, but almost nowhere else. As further evidence, he refers to the style as "first heir of my invention."

This line is actually in the dedication. It reads, "...if the first heir of my invention prove deformed, I shall be sorry it had so noble a god-father."

It may actually refer to the entire poem, and not the pentameter style.

Another interesting point, according to the Luminarium.org web site, is that De Vere used many different styles in his poetry: " 11 different metrical and stanzaic forms in the two dozen poems, including fourteener couplets, the English sonnet, tetrameters, and trimeters."

Luminarium is a web site dedicated to medieval, Renaissance, and 17th century literature.

Destro says De Vere is the best candidate for the real Shakespeare, and he looks forward to sharing his findings and participating in the discussion next Tuesday.

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SHSU Media Contact: Kelly Jakubowski
Feb. 14, 2006
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