Much talk has been made about how the upcoming movie "Anonymous" is rekindling the debate about whether or not Shakespeare actually wrote the works attributed to him. It's not so much rekindling as it is bringing the question to a public movie-going audience and out from the walls of academia. Here's the movie's synopsis:
Set in the political snake-pit of Elizabethan England, Anonymous speculates on an issue that has for centuries intrigued academics and brilliant minds ranging from Mark Twain and Charles Dickens to Henry James and Sigmund Freud, namely: who was the author of the plays credited to William Shakespeare? Experts have debated, books have been written, and scholars have devoted their lives to protecting or debunking theories surrounding the authorship of the most renowned works in English literature. Anonymous poses one possible answer, focusing on a time when cloak-and-dagger political intrigue, illicit romances in the Royal Court, and the schemes of greedy nobles hungry for the power of the throne were exposed in the most unlikely of places: the London stage.
I'm a Shakespeare professor for Ottawa University, yet even I admit it seems quite impossible for one man to have written so many unbelievably timeless works. But that “one man did it all” mentality is still the most popular alternative thought and the one allegedly posited in this movie. Many people believe the works attributed to Shakespeare were actually written by Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford(12 April 1550 – 24 June 1604). In the end, and as Bill Bryson's terrific Shakespeare biography reveals, we know very little about Shakespeare and therefore we can't make any judgments either way. Was he a fraud? Maybe. But it's just as likely that he was a major collaborator and even plagiarizer - many writers of the time were. It's also just as likely that he was just one of those brilliant people who come around every few hundred years. All of this, however, doesn't matter –what we know of Shakespeare hasn’t changed much in years and years. What matters is that the works now credited to Shakespeare have completely changed our worldview, have added layers of learning to millions of people around the world, have inspired writers and non-writers alike. What matters isn’t the man, but the works.
The Anonymous website says this about William Shakespeare:
Despite being credited with writing 37 plays, 154 sonnets and several epic poems and being the most performed playwright of all time, no documentation exists that proves Shakespeare wrote a single word.
No documentation exists that the fantastical elements of religion actually happened, either. Actually, there’s much evidence that major religious scriptures are possibly plagiarized and fraudulent. Unfortunately, very few hold Shakespeare as near and dear to their hearts as religion, so the likelihood that there’s a blockbuster hit titled, “The Bible: Was it a Fraud?” is unlikely. Why make a parallel between religion and Shakespeare? Because many reports show that books of or about Shakespeare are second only behind books on or about Jesus in terms of overall sales.
While I understand the basis for this movie and will definitely watch it and will highly encourage everyone I know to watch it (it’s a movie about Shakespeare, how great is that!), I must say I am biased. With true literature on the absolute decline, it would have been more important, relevant and interesting – in my opinion – to pour money into a movie about the various ways that the works attributed to Shakespeare have changed lives for the better and been adapted over more than 400 years by people in all countries and of all ages. As part of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad, for example, the Globe theatre will stage all of Shakespeare’s plays, each in a different language - 38 to be exact. Now that is fascinating. That is amazing. That is worthy of a blockbuster movie.
Comments