Keynote
– Prof. Lyn Tribble - University of Otago - Why Shakespeare wrote ‘Shakespeare’
and why it matters
Robert Greene 1592 – Greene’s Groatsworth
of Wit -
upstart Crow, ref to Henry IV.
Shakespeare gets his own back with Polonius ‘beautified’ (that’s a vile
phrase!) in Hamlet.
1593 Venus and Adonis
Individual quarto editions.
John Davies c.1610 dedication to our
“English Terence Mr Will. Shakes-speare”
1623 – First Folio ‘only to keep the memory
alive” etc. “Sweet swan of Avon”
Fairly early on after his death there are
references to Stratford as a tourist destination – people going to see where
Shakespeare was born.
There is more evidence linking Shakespeare
to his plays than there is for any other playwright of the period, except
Jonson.
Arguments against Shakespeare’s authorship
basically boil down to:
·
Lack of evidence in his own handwriting
– Tribble describes this as right up there with the argument that he never
appeared on any TV chat shows. Written records which have survived from the
period are mostly legal documents. There were about 900 copies of the plays
printed during the period, so why keep the manuscripts? NO play successful and
publically performed before 1642 survives in manuscript. With the possible
exception of St Thomas More where there is a fragment which may possibly be in
Shakespeare’s handwriting, but it is hard to tell when you are matching from a
signature. At the time it was probably
thought that the manuscripts had no historical value – but at the time paper
was expensive and scarce, and had a cash resale value.
·
Debate about education and experience – Well
yes, there are no records of Shakespeare attending King Edward’s Grammar
School, but then there are no records of anyone attending it.
Shakespeare’s knowledge of the lives of the nobility and royalty is not
necessarily terrible accurate – eg. Lord Capulet supervising the cooks; Love’s
Labour’s Lost has people travelling from Italy to France via Spain…
Virtually all the young men who came to London at this time to write plays and poetry had similar backgrounds.
“Using the term “genius” to describe Shakespeare is in some ways accurate but also obscures as much as it reveals.”
Virtually all the young men who came to London at this time to write plays and poetry had similar backgrounds.
“Using the term “genius” to describe Shakespeare is in some ways accurate but also obscures as much as it reveals.”
Positive mention of Lois Potter’s recent
book, The Life of William Shakespeare: A
Critical Biography.
Aaargh! Don’t stop now!!!! I could happily
listen to another hour of this!!
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