Alias Shakespeare

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Who wrote Shakespeare's plays? Today, the long-standing and impassioned debate about the so-called authorship question is perceived by Shakespearean scholars as the preserve of eccentrics and cranks. But in this contrarian work of literary detection, author Joseph Sobran boldly reopens this debate and allows the members of Shakespeare's vast contemporary public to weigh all the evidence and decide for themselves. An enormous shelf of biographical scholarship has grown up over the past 300 years around the "Swan ...
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Overview

Who wrote Shakespeare's plays? Today, the long-standing and impassioned debate about the so-called authorship question is perceived by Shakespearean scholars as the preserve of eccentrics and cranks. But in this contrarian work of literary detection, author Joseph Sobran boldly reopens this debate and allows the members of Shakespeare's vast contemporary public to weigh all the evidence and decide for themselves. An enormous shelf of biographical scholarship has grown up over the past 300 years around the "Swan of Avon." But what are these histories based on? Revealing that no more than a handful of fragmentary documents attest to Shakespeare's existence - and virtually none which link him to the plays themselves - Sobran delightfully debunks this elaborate egalitarian myth concocted in equal parts of speculation, wishfulness, and fantasy. More importantly, Sobran shows how many questions the myth leaves unanswered: How could a provincial actor from Stratford gain such an intimate knowledge of court life? How could he know so much of classical authors and not own a single book? How could he write compromising love sonnets to his social superior, the powerful Earl of Southampton? How could he know so much of Italy, a place he never visited? Why was there no notice of the famous writer's death in 1616? Why, in short, does Shakespeare remain such an obscure and shadowy figure? Methodically demolishing the case for "Mr. Shakspere," Sobran shows it is highly implausible that he wrote the poems and plays we know as The Works of William Shakespeare. Other candidates exist, of course, including Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe, and Francis Bacon. Sobran dispenses with these claimants, then sets forth the startlingly persuasive case for Edward de Vere, the seventeenth Earl of Oxford. Oxford was a widely traveled, classically educated member of the Elizabethan court. A swashbuckling spendthrift, he swung high and low in the eyes of his peers. Having spent most of his fort

This erudite and entertaining work of literary detection sets out to solve the most puzzling mystery in all of literary history: Who wrote Shakespeare's plays? Presenting his case for a swashbuckling Elizabethan courtier, Sobran vindicates a long list of prominent skeptics, among them the great Shakespearean actors, Kenneth Branagh and Sir John Gielgud. 8 pp. of photos & illustrations. 320 pp. Print ads. National publicity. 30,000 print. Buyer's Choice

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Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Cahners\\Publishers_Weekly
Provocatively separating William Shakespeare of Stratford from William Shakespeare the playwright, Sobran demonstrates that neither one could have been the other. The burgher from Stratford who became an occasional actor and an investor in a London playhouse appears to Sobran to have had neither the schooling nor the experience of the world to have written the most spellbinding and sophisticated dramas produced in England. Nor did he have, Sobran guesses, the essential aristocratic and erudite contacts to have been able to write so knowledgeably about law courts, literary antecedents and the lives of the nobility. And, while Sobran can match lines of the Shakespeare plays to an overwhelming number of individuals and experiences from the life of Edward de Vere, 17th earl of Oxford, he finds no such connections to Shakespeare of Stratford. "Oxford," he declares, "seems to have known everyone Mr. Shakespeare should have known if he was Shakespeare." To clinch the matter, Sobran finds no sources for the famous plays emerging after the earl's death in June 1604. Sobran, a journalist and longtime amateur of Shakespeare, makes one of the most persuasive arguments yet for the identification of Oxford as Shakespeare; however, the subtitle seems overconfident. Why has the alleged identification always faded before? Why were there no contemporary claims? The earl may have wanted to conceal his connection with a money-grubbing trade, but why, in a lively press, did no gossips expose, posthumously, the stand-in for his imposture?
Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Provocatively separating William Shakespeare of Stratford from William Shakespeare the playwright, Sobran demonstrates that neither one could have been the other. The burgher from Stratford who became an occasional actor and an investor in a London playhouse appears to Sobran to have had neither the schooling nor the experience of the world to have written the most spellbinding and sophisticated dramas produced in England. Nor did he have, Sobran guesses, the essential aristocratic and erudite contacts to have been able to write so knowledgeably about law courts, literary antecedents and the lives of the nobility. And, while Sobran can match lines of the Shakespeare plays to an overwhelming number of individuals and experiences from the life of Edward de Vere, 17th earl of Oxford, he finds no such connections to Shakespeare of Stratford. "Oxford," he declares, "seems to have known everyone Mr. Shakespeare should have known if he was Shakespeare." To clinch the matter, Sobran finds no sources for the famous plays emerging after the earl's death in June 1604. Sobran, a journalist and longtime amateur of Shakespeare, makes one of the most persuasive arguments yet for the identification of Oxford as Shakespeare; however, the subtitle seems overconfident. Why has the alleged identification always faded before? Why were there no contemporary claims? The earl may have wanted to conceal his connection with a money-grubbing trade, but why, in a lively press, did no gossips expose, posthumously, the stand-in for his imposture? (Apr.)
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780684826585
  • Publisher: Free Press
  • Publication date: 5/7/1997
  • Pages: 320
  • Product dimensions: 6.45 (w) x 9.58 (h) x 1.16 (d)

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Sort by: Showing all of 2 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted May 4, 2001

    Upon what meat doth this our Shaksper feed / That he is grown so great?

    I remember back in high school there was this little old lady, Mrs. Harwell, who taught advanced English and Shakespeare. She was the hardest teacher I ever had. To this day, I can still hear her say. 'Some who think they know try to attribute the plays to Bacon or Oxford, but we all know that Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare.' I got the exact same response in graduate school, when I asked the little old lady who taught Shakespeare, Dr. Parkin-Speare, about an article I had read by Joseph Sobran in The National Review ('Bard Thou Never Wert' April 29, 1991). So I had every reason to agree with Charlton Heston's response questioning Sobran's conclusion that Edward de Vere actually wrote Shakespeare and asserting that the plays were more of a collaborative production (June 10, 1991). Now, some eight years later, I find myself teaching British literature and Shakespeare, when on impulse I read Mr. Sobran's cogent argument in Alias Shakespeare. I am now convinced beyond any doubt that the plays were indeed written by Edward de Vere. The evidence, which Sobran brilliantly lays out, is overwhelming. Alias Shakespeare is an excellent book if the question of authorship has any meaning to you. It is also an exemplary book if the station of criticism has any relevance to you. Crisply written and impressively documented, Sobran's style gracefully leads the reader to the unmistakeable conclusion that is carefully explained but cautiously restrained. If anyone doubts that de Vere wrote Shakespeare after reading this book, his faulty reasoning will not be due to any fault on Sonbran's part. I highly recommend this book for anyone who truly wants to understand Shakespeare.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 23, 2004

    A strong case for Oxford

    Joseph Sobran, a great columnist, also turns out to be a terrific author. This book is well-written, highly enjoyable, and very persuasive. Sobran marshals a great deal of evidence to support his view that the Earl of Oxford wrote the plays attributed to William Shakespeare. He fearlessly takes on the Shakespeare establishment, a group of snobbish intellectuals incapable of admitting error. I strongly urge every fan of Shakespeare to read it with an open mind. Many famous literary figures, as Sobran points out, have come to the inescapable conclusion that Oxford wrote Shakespeare. The unbiased reader will come to this same conclusion.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
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