ΠΟΙΟΣ ΗΤΑΝ Ο ΣΕΞΠΙΡ; ΑΥΤΗ ΕΙΝΑΙ (ΑΚΟΜΗ) Η ΕΡΩΤΗΣΗ

Who was Shakespeare? That is (still) the question

Campaign revives controversy of Bard's identity

Vanessa Thorpe, arts and media correspondent
The Observer, Sunday September 9, 2007

The literary conspiracy theory that refuses to go away, and which has a growing army of supporters all over the globe, reared its head in Chichester this weekend.

Two of Britain's most distinguished Shakespearean actors, Sir Derek Jacobi and Mark Rylance, the original artistic director of the new Globe Theatre, have launched a formal 'Declaration of Reasonable Doubt' about the identity of the Bard of Stratford-upon-Avon.

The actors said the document, which has been signed by 300 people, is an effort to provoke academic debate.

After the last matinee performance of I Am Shakespeare, a play that questions the identity of Shakespeare, at the Minerva Theatre in the West Sussex town yesterday, Rylance, the star, joined Sir Derek to present the controversial declaration to Dr William Leahy, the head of English at Brunel University in west London. Later this month Leahy is to convene the first MA in Shakespeare authorship studies.

The key belief of the Shakespeare Authorship Coalition is that a body of literary works which displays an understanding of law, history and mathematics could not have been written by a mere commoner from an illiterate household in Warwickshire. What is more, no records exist that the man usually assumed to be the greatest playwright in western literature ever received payment or personal preferment for his writing. Shakespeare's detailed will, in which he notably left his wife 'my second best bed with the furniture', fails to refer to any theatrical legacy. The coalition contends it is proof of cause for doubt.

Since the 18th century rival candidates for the authorship of the works have been put up by those convinced that William Shakespeare was just a pen-name. Christopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon and the Elizabethan nobleman Edward de Vere, have all been mooted as contenders and Sir Derek was happy to reveal yesterday which one would get his vote.

'I think the leading light was probably de Vere, as I agree that an author writes about his own experiences, his own life and personalities,' he said.

The coalition's declaration lists 20 other well-known doubters of the past, including Mark Twain, Orson Welles, Sir John Gielgud and Charlie Chaplin.

Central planks in the document include suspicion surrounding the fact that all of the plays are chiefly set among the upper class and about the author's familiarity with Italian culture. There are questions too about his failure to mention Stratford or anything relating to his own life, including the death of his 11-year-old son, Hamnet. (Although there is no explanation why he might have given his only son a name so close to that of the playwright's most famous protagonist).

Dr Leahy said the new course at Brunel would simply aim to open up the question of the authorship: 'It has been a battle of mine for the last couple of years to get this into academia. It's a legitimate question, it has a mystery at its centre and intellectual discussion will bring us closer to that centre.'

The coalition first drew up its declaration in California last spring, where the organisation is spearheaded by the academics and sceptics John Shahan and Virginia Renner (a former head of Reader Services at the prestigious Huntington Library). 'We have nothing against the man from Stratford-upon-Avon,' the declaration reads, 'but we doubt that he was the author of the works. Our goal is to legitimise the issue in academia so students, teachers and professors can feel free to pursue it. This is necessary because the issue is widely viewed as settled in academia and is treated as a taboo subject.'

More mysteries

Who was he?

Some say the works were written by the poet and playwright Christopher Marlowe, others that Francis Bacon wrote them in his spare time, while some point to the nobleman Edward de Vere. Others argue they are collaborations penned by a brilliant team of anonymous writers.

What was he?

Contradictory theories include the idea that the Bard was also a Catholic spy, a secret agent working abroad, a religious recusant in hiding, a teacher or possibly a European cultural ambassador.

Who was his lover?

The true identities of the Dark Lady and the Fair Youth of the sonnets are still in dispute; some say the poems addressed to a young man are about the Earl of Pembroke, others the Earl of Southampton, while the lady could have been a Mary Fitton or the poet Emilia Lanier.