What was the controversy surrounding William Shakespeare?

Answer 1

There are a number of controversies about Shakespeare's life and work. Many of them have the air of having been invented to give academics something to write about. Some of these controversies include whether works attributed to Shakespeare were really written by some other author, or by Shakespeare in collusion with some other author, or whether some plays attributed to some other author were really written by Shakespeare instead. Then there are controversies about Shakespeare's politics, religion and sexual preferences, all of which are futile since we have absolutely no information about Shakespeare's private life or opinions. Arguments about why Shakespeare left his wife the second-best bed or who was "Mr. W.H." to whom the sonnets were dedicated, or the identity of people to whom the sonnets appear to be addressed, or just how sad Shakespeare was about Hamnet's death, or what colour his hair was are just a small sample of the kinds of topic which provide the opportunity for hours of spirited argument and no possible conclusion.

Answer 2

April, 1564--Shakespeare born, and baptised on the 26th.

November 1582--Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway

May 1583--daughter Susannah born

February 1585--two more children born

Sometime between 1585 and 1592 Shakespeare moves to London and gets involved in the London theatrical scene.

1593--Publishes Venus and Adonis at a great profit to himself.

1596--Involved with Lord Chamberlain's men

1596--Shakespeare's son Hamnet dies

1599--Globe Theatre built; Shakespeare owns a share

1593-1612--Approximate dates of writing of Shakespeare's plays

June 29, 1613--The First Globe Theatre burns down during a performance of Shakespeare's Henry VIII

1613--Shakespeare retires

April 23, 1616--Shakespeare dies.

Answer 3

There are a number of controversies surrounding Shakespeare. The first is the suggestion that all of Shakespeare's works were really written by someone else. This is not a real controversy because all of the real evidence points to Shakespeare as the author. There is a controversy about whether Shakespeare may have been a homosexual, or a closet Catholic, or whether he was nice to his wife or not. All of these matters are pretty speculative, although there is at least some evidence to start off the speculation.

Answer 4

There isn't one, really. Speculations about his being of some unsuspected sexuality or religion, or actually being dead at the time he wrote his plays or actually being Doctor Who or someone are all very interesting but mostly not terrifically persuasive. In order to be controversial, a lot of people who know what they are talking about have to endorse such views and that just doesn't happen.

Answer 5

There is an entire industry devoted to the study of Shakespeare and his works, and controversies are their meat and potatoes. Usually the controversies people raise are started by someone wanting Shakespeare to conform to a particular pattern: "Wouldn't it be cool if Shakespeare were Roman Catholic/gay/illiterate/of royal blood/a libertine/a criminal/a spy/a romantic/female/black?" Controversies can be started by alleging that any random sixteenth-century picture of an "unknown man" was really a picture of Shakespeare. More sane academics argue about how Shakespeare reacted when Hamnet died, or which exact books he borrowed his plots from, or which "anonymous" Elizabethan plays he might have had a hand in. Was that really his handwriting in the manuscript of Sir Thomas More? Did he write part of Peele's Edward I? The list is unending, fortunately for those who have made a career of it.

Answer 6

These are legends and rumours which should not be believed:

1. He had to leave Stratford because he had been caught poaching

2. William Davenant was his illigitimate son

3. He had something to do with the King James Bible

4. He had an affair with Queen Elizabeth

5. His plays and poetry were really written by someone else.

6. He was an extraterrestrial.

Answer 7

For the most part, controversies about Shakespeare are more matters to give academics something to do than something which would actually help people watching the plays. For example, was Shakespeare really a devout Anglican as he appeared to be or was he secretly a Catholic or Puritan? Or was he really the heterosexual man who impregnated his girlfriend at the age of 18, or was he really more interested in sex with men? Apart from gays who would like to count Shakespeare among their number and homophobes who would like just as much to deny it, it doesn't matter much. And in either case there is no evidence.

Answer 8

So little is known of his life that some people think the plays were written by someone else.

Answer 9

His son Hamnet died.