Scholars have debated who wrote the plays, sonnets and longer poems published under the name Shakespeare. The conventional understanding is that a gentleman from Stratford with the first name William and a last name similar to Shakespeare wrote these works. For a variety of reasons, this understanding makes little sense. The most likely author of the works is Edward De Vere, the Seventeenth Earl of Oxford. The evidence is in the close relationship between the life of Edward de Vere, and the content of the plays, sonnets and longer poems. This site assumes that Edward de Vere wrote the works, and in defense of this conclusion, will include the following products:
- The case for Edward de Vere as the author of the works of Shakespeare requires that two issues be addressed in two parts:
- To determine whether Edward de Vere or the Stratfordian wrote the works of William Shakespeare, it is essential to compare both cases according to all the relevant issues. This is done in De Vere versus the Stratfordian.
- If Edward de Vere was the author of the works of William Shakespeare, how did history get it wrong? This question is addressed in The Historical Error.
- Who was Edward de Vere? To get a fuller understanding of his life, see De Vere Chronology.
- What do the works of William Shakespeare tell us about the author of these works? To what extent is the information about the author of these works reflected in the life of Edward de Vere? If one starts from the premise that Edward de Vere wrote the works of William Shakespeare, what additional information do we gather about Edward de Vere, and what additional information do we gather about the works themselves? This question is addressed in De Vere in the Plays.
For the total story in one place, check a webpage "Who was Shakespeare?" consisting of the foregoing as four chapters at Who was Shakespeare? and a corresponding PDF version at Who was Shakespeare? PDF
The site does not include original research. Rather, it is a repackaging of existing stories in a simple format intended to present maximum content in a few words.
The foregoing relies heavily on the book "The Mysterious William Shakespeare: The Myth & the Reality" by Charlton Ogburn (January 1, 1992).
