Lefkowitz 1

Tallulah Lefkowitz
OConnor
Honors English
3 June 2016
Stratford or Oxford?
The debate over who really authored Shakespeare is a long running, and sometimes
heated discussion. It is a general consensus among academics that William Shakespeare of
Stratford wrote the 37 plays and 157 sonnets attributed to him. Some however, called Oxfordians
or Antistratfordians, believe that Edward De Vere, the Earl of Oxford and son (and lover) to
Queen Elizabeth authored these literary works under the pseudonym William Shakespeare.
There are others thought to have written Shakespeare, such as William Stanley, but the evidence
for these cases is much less compelling.
There is copious amounts of evidence supporting William Shakespeare of Stratfords
authorship of 37 plays and 157 sonnets. Some evidence for this comes from the First Folio of
1623. The name William Shakespeare appears on the plays and poems, therefore attributing them
to him. The dedications in many of his poems use the language of a common man addressing a
royal, though many Oxfordians make the argument that it uses the language of two aristocrats.
This claim would lead to the belief that someone of higher status than Shakespeare of Stratford
must have written the poems. Many of Shakespeares earlier works were not attributed to him
until long after he wrote them. Antistratfordians believe that this means there was an effort to
keep the true authors name a secret. It is known that only about a third of all plays written in the
1590s had an authors name attached to it, making this argument irrelevant. This was because
modern plays were not yet considered true, respectable literature. Many Oxfordians make the

Lefkowitz 2
claim that William Shakespeare was a pseudonym used by Edward De Vere. However, the
likelihood of this is quite slim, as William Shakespeare of Stratford acted in a company that
performed Shakespeare plays. This gives the name none of the usual characteristics of a
pseudonym.
There is also debate between Stratfordians and Oxfordians regarding Shakespeare of
Stratfords education and literacy, compared to that of Edward De Vere. Many believe that one
would have had to be a high class aristocrat in order to provide accurate depictions of Royal
courts, Italy, and law. That said, the Bard had a close friend named Richard Fields who had a
large library, and lived on the same street as him. This is where he could have educated himself
on aristocratic life. Even so, many scholars agree that Shakespeares depictions of Royal life are
so inaccurate that only someone of lower social status could have written them. This brings up
the literacy argument, the most compelling claim Oxfordians have made. There are only six
veritable examples of Shakespeares handwriting, each of which is a unique, unlegible signature
written in the same year, 1612. It is also worth stating that these signatures were written on
documents that had nothing to do with the theatre or his writing, but on various business papers
and his will. The first syllable in all of these signatures is spelled Shak instead of Shake as it
is written in the First Folio.This is most likely due to the lack of literacy at the time, not
necessarily two different people. Sadly for Antistratfordians, there is evidence that three pages of
the Sir Thomas More manuscript were written in Shakespeares handwriting. However, the
support for this claim is weak and can become subjective.
Most academics agree that William Shakespeare of Stratford was the author behind
Shakespeare. That said, both sides of the argument present fresh and convincing evidence

Lefkowitz 3
supporting its point of view on the subject. Still to this day, Scholars are torn in the raging battle
between William Shakespeare of Stratford, and Edward De Vere, the seventeenth Earl of Oxford.

Works Cited
"Oxford Authorship Argument." At Absolute Shakespeare. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2016.
"How We Know That Shakespeare Wrote Shakespeare: The Historical Facts." How We Know
That Shakespeare Wrote Shakespeare: The Historical Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2016.