Everyone knows they were written by Sir Loyne of Boeuf...
Posted on 04/11/2010 8:39:47 AM PDT by Saije
Film director Roland Emmerich, whose last effort was the apocalyptic "2012," has begun shooting "Anonymous." It won't be another disaster movie -- except perhaps for English professors. According to Emmerich, the film is "about how it came to be that William Shakespeare was not the author of his plays," which, he says, turn out to have been written by the "Earl of Oxford."
Emmerich calls "Anonymous" a political thriller. "It's about who will succeed Elizabeth and the cause of that thriller, the Essex Rebellion." The film, starring Vanessa Redgrave as Queen Elizabeth...will have "kings, queens, and princes," he adds. "It's about illegitimate children, it's about incest. It's about all of these elements which Shakespeare's plays have."
Except, of course, it's also about how Shakespeare didn't write those plays, indeed, couldn't even write his own name.
The story behind this story dates back to 1920, when J.T. Looney published " 'Shakespeare' Identified," the bible of those who believe that the Earl of Oxford is the true author of Shakespeare's plays. When Emmerich says his movie will be about incest and bastards, he means that the story line follows a popular spinoff of Looney's undocumented theory, in which the Earl of Oxford was not only the secret son of the not-so-virginal Queen Elizabeth, but also, when he came of age, her lover. There's more fantasy: the Earl of Southampton was their illegitimate child and likely heir to the throne of England, until he was imprisoned for his role in the Essex Rebellion.
And the explanation as to why Shakespeare would have gotten credit for plays and poems the Earl of Oxford wrote? The "real facts" had to be hushed up because a Tudor prince could never be seen to stoop to the lowly business of playwriting.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Yeah, I’ve read on this issue too - and I think this will be fascinating to hear the fallout discussion!
I just finished watching “Searching for Shakespeare” on Netflix. It’s instant view. Turns out Shakespeare was a Catholic. Fun stuff.
The question isn’t so much did “William Shakespeare” write “Shakespeare’s” plays, but who “William Shakespeare” is, including whether it was a pseudonym. Unlike other immensely influential artists, he has no independent fame.
http://www.henryneville.com/
Oh God!
Not another “Shakespeare in Love”!!!!!!!!!!
I’m surprised that the movie isn’t about some woman or minority who really wrote Shakepeare’s plays. After all, a (likely racist) white guy couldn’t possibly have written such classics.
Everyone knows they were written by Sir Loyne of Boeuf...
i am fanatically agnostic on this issue
i have read extensively, both pro and con
it is a scientific question
either the guy from stratford wrote the plays or he didn’t i want to know
many smart people are trying to figure out and a bunch of morons think they know
one of the candidates certainly, there was a nice book written by his proponents recently
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Perhaps the most concise debunking of this "Looney" idea was done by Monty Python's Flying Circus, a sketch wherein contestants on a show made outlandish claims.Film director Roland Emmerich... has begun shooting "Anonymous." ...the film is "about how it came to be that William Shakespeare was not the author of his plays," which, he says, turn out to have been written by the "Earl of Oxford." ... "It's about illegitimate children, it's about incest. It's about all of these elements which Shakespeare's plays have." Except, of course, it's also about how Shakespeare didn't write those plays, indeed, couldn't even write his own name. The story behind this story dates back to 1920, when J.T. Looney published " 'Shakespeare' Identified," the bible of those who believe that the Earl of Oxford is the true author of Shakespeare's plays.Looney was by no means the first, and wasn't the only Shakespeare-denier to have an amusing name suggestive of a connection with such a stupid idea. Of COURSE Shakespeare wrote his plays. Of COURSE Shakespeare could read and write. Of COURSE there's actually ZERO evidence that the plays were written by these other "candidates" (there are nearly five dozen, by one count). And BTW, Oxford PREDECEASED William Shakespeare, and died BEFORE a good many of the plays were written and performed. |
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In the preface to the first folio of Shakespeare’s work, his friend Ben Jonson (another poet and playwrite) penned, “To the memory of my beloved, The Author, Mr. William Shakespeare, and what he hath left us.” He refers to Shakespeare as “sweet swan of Avon”.
Shakespeare, a real person, I don’t believe wrote the plays. It was the hand of god acting through some mortal. Somebody indeed wrote something down, knowing that they were brilliant — brilliant enough and yet to play the part as an actor would play the part — a conceit rarely employed. That somebody would not care to be known. Originality of that order is its own audience. As God doesn’t give his secrets easily away neither does this actor. The way to discover the identity of this actor, of all actors, is to view the program and that is very hard... it only comes from God.
Why do people have such a hard time believeing Shakespeare wrote his plays? It wasn’t just him - the English Renaissance saw some of the best stuff ever written in English, including Paradise Lost and the King James Bible.
As Lucy Van Pelt once asked, “have you ruled out stupidity?” ;’)
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