did Shakespeare really exist ?

[mmmjess]

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theres something phoney about shakespeare

did this guy ever really exist ? or is he like Robin Hood a creation o f history.

all those poems all those plays and yet

what have we actulally got in manuscript ?

absolutely nothing

the only physical writing we have of shakespeare is his signiture on a will

that is all .

shakespeare the name .... the shaker of the spear

in greek myth athena was the shaker of the spear she was also the patron of literature

so even the name shakespeare looks like a bit of a historical creation.

maybe the plays are just a mass of historical work from the elixabethan age written b y many different authors ..... collected together and presented under the pseudenem william shakespeare.... maybe there was some genius who collected all this work and unified it into a whole.

a bit like Malory who served long years in prison and spent his time writing Morte dArthur which is obviously derived from numerous sources but his wonderful writing give s it a unity and a power

[mono]

Others have suspected the same, that Shakespeare's works could only prove as a collection of many authors, including Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, Francis Bacon, John Donne, and Edward de Vere (who, ironically, had the nickname "spear-shaker"). I have little doubt whether William Shakespeare actually existed, but I often also wonder if he wrote all of the poetry and plays himself.
I try not to worry and toil over the subject too much. The works exist and deserve the admiration they receive, and if there subsists some conspiracy, perhaps it seems meant to remain hidden. Good luck!

[Helga]

in churchbooks you can find his name. I have no doubts about the fact that he was real but many people think he didn't write all these plays, but I want to believe he did all of them.

[Scheherazade]

I do believe that Shakespeare lived and wrote all the works for which he is given credit for... But I also believe that he did not hesitate or mind 'borrowing' ideas and inspiration from others' works... He was a good story teller and had a way with words even if he did not have the imagination to come up with everything on his own.

[simon]

He's real, as in he existed according to the average terms of a person physical existence in the material world. As for producing great plays, he may have done that, did he do it by himself, invent all those new innovative words? He could have nad like otheres ahve already expressed writing and reading not being as widespread it is easier to "borrow" ideas from others creative minds. But then what author or creator isn't borrowing from what surrounds htem, that's what creating something new is, out of what you have something incredible is born. Does it really matter if he existed or not or wrote all those works with the sole voice of his imagination?

[atiguhya padma]

I was reading an article only this weekend on the plays of Shakespeare, in which it was claimed that few serious scholars nowadays question that WS was really the man from Stratford who made his name in the London playhouses. In fact, it was claimed inthis article, that nobody had questioned WS's identity during his lifetime, with many claiming to have known him, people as acclaimed as Ben Jonson for instance. If WS wasn't who history claims he was, then, this author asserts, it would be the greatest conspiracy of all time.

[Stanislaw]

I do believe that Shakespeare lived and wrote all the works for which he is given credit for... But I also believe that he did not hesitate or mind 'borrowing' ideas and inspiration from others' works... He was a good story teller and had a way with words even if he did not have the imagination to come up with everything on his own.

indeed ther are similarities that are amzing between some of his works and earlier playwrites.

[Scheherazade]

Yes but those similarities don't make him any less worthy of praise in my humble eyes...

[Stanislaw]

I suppose, he was pretty cool, but he did plagerise.

[Scheherazade]

ideas yes but i doubt if he copied word by word. One of the things which makes him great is his ability to tell a story and he had a way with words; which is why probably the plays werent so popular when they were written by others.

[Stanislaw]

Oh I admit that he was a master craftsmen of the english language however, I am merely stating that the stories or concepts were not original, just translated and modified by shakespeare.

[Scheherazade]

I think we would have been an interesting character to know.

[Bongitybongbong]

most likely the only thing he did write was the poem on his grave

[Scheherazade]

Well since he was dead, he cant have written that poem

[Stanislaw]

unless he was a zombie!