The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 13.0560  Tuesday, 26 February 2002

[1]     From:   Richard Sherrington <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
        Date:   Monday, 25 Feb 2002 13:24:05 -0400
        Subj:   Re: SHK 13.0542 Re: Somebody Else Named Shakespeare Did

[2]     From:   Bob Grumman <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
        Date:   Monday, 25 Feb 2002 19:40:04 -0500
        Subj:   Re: SHK 13.0542 Re: Somebody Else Named Shakespeare Did

[3]     From:   Whitt Brantley <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
        Date:   Tuesday, 26 Feb 2002 10:21:33 EST
        Subj:   RE: SHK 13.0532 Somebody Else Named Shak...


[1]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Richard Sherrington <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Monday, 25 Feb 2002 13:24:05 -0400
Subject: 13.0542 Re: Somebody Else Named Shakespeare Did
Comment:        Re: SHK 13.0542 Re: Somebody Else Named Shakespeare Did

I believe the remark was made by the Canadian humorist, Steven Leacock.

Richard

[2]-------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Bob Grumman <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Monday, 25 Feb 2002 19:40:04 -0500
Subject: 13.0542 Re: Somebody Else Named Shakespeare Did
Comment:        Re: SHK 13.0542 Re: Somebody Else Named Shakespeare Did

> Jack,
>
> I don't know who originally said it, but I remember Dr. Doris Falk, my
> professor at Douglass College in the early sixties, said, "If
> Shakespeare didn't write the plays, then a man of the same name did." I
> find this squabble over authorship a bit surreal. The plays can stand on
> their own. Until we discover more compelling and concrete evidence about
> the man named Shakespeare, we'll never be sure who the author really
> is.  Does it matter?  My honors English 12 students did a web quest on
> the authorship question and couldn't understand what the flap was about.
>
> Ruth Ross

But isn't history the study of who did what?  And how can one study the
creative process if one doesn't know who wrote what?  And, finally,
isn't it morally appropriate that those making contributions to our
culture get credit for it?  Perhaps not all authors are selfish, but
many--I among them--are at least partly motivated by a desire to get
credit with posterity; we don't want to think that whatever credit we
earn can be ripped from us while some honors English 12 class looks on
without concern.

                                                   --Bob Grumman

[3]-------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Whitt Brantley
 <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date:           Tuesday, 26 Feb 2002 10:21:33 EST
Subject: 13.0532 Somebody Else Named Shak...
Comment:        RE: SHK 13.0532 Somebody Else Named Shak...

I think this topic is taboo on this list.   The fact is, most people
don't think another man could have written the works.

But, this kind of thinking can be in itself, dangerous.  Example, I was
engaged in conversation at a local pub, having a pint after work.  The
authorship question arose.

What?  Shakespeare wasn't Shakespeare?  That's like saying the holocaust
never happened!

That's what he said.  A learned and intelligent man compared the
Shakespeare mystery to the holocaust.  This is because, like most
people, it's never occurred to him that NOTHING exists in handwriting
concerning Shakespeare except the sigs.

He's assumes like most, that there be a few old manuscripts lying around
somewhere.

My guess is, like many people. He would have a hard time accepting the
truth.

You see, if Shakespeare is proven to be a cover-up of some sort, I think
it would force people to question history.  To question in our Orwellian
society, what is truth?  What is the truth...

People can only remain blind as long as they don't realize they are
blind. This is the case.

Who am I to say:  you?re in for it.  Shakespeare was not the man from
Stratford, and I can prove it.  I would much rather let the debate rage
on for years between the candidates because it makes for nice
roundtables and copper pints at the pub.

DeVere, Shakespeare, Marlowe, BACON...?

For this and more, I direct you to a newsgroup concerning itself with
this issue.

humanities.lit.authors.shakespeare

I suggest you read some of the archive before you submit a question.

This is not a website to get advice on your homework.  However, if you
want to see a serious discussion (I say that lightly) of a great mystery
try this newsgroup.  You will meet some VERY interesting loons and
scholars!  Myself, a member of the loons, who have more fun!

A few of you on this list are members, I think.

Anyway, do we really want to KNOW if someone else wrote the plays?  I
think it is too much for people to handle, because it means something
deeper than the knowing itself.

It's an issue of blind trust.  Knowing who Shakespeare really
was...means having to know who you  really are...

Regards,
Whitt Brantley
(who may or may not have written this)

[Editor?s Note: A bit of history: Many years ago, I banned authorship as
a topic for discussion on this list. My reasons were simple ? I believed
the issue to be moot and I just didn?t want to waste my time editing the
endless exchanges between scholars and true believers. For this reason,
a group of Oxfordians founded humanities.lit.authors.shakespeare Now
that I am wholly responsible for bringing SHAKSPER to its members and
for paying all of the bills for it out of my own pocket, I feel somewhat
freer to allow scholars to point out when egregious errors are being
perpetrated as with the NY Times thread. This thread, on the other hand,
was begun as a request for the source of a quotation. Whitt Brantley has
used this thread to advance another agenda. I have let him have his
piece, but this is the end. My point is twofold: 1) if you are
interested in authorship visit Dave Kathman?s and Terry Ross?s The
Shakespeare Authorship Page <http://shakespeareauthorship.com/> and 2)
if you are interested in endless and non-productive debate join
humanities.lit.authors.shakespeare Also, all messages to me about my
position on this matter will be summarily deleted without being read. I
just do not have the time for them. ?Hardy]

_______________________________________________________________
S H A K S P E R: The Global Shakespeare Discussion List
Hardy M. Cook, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The S H A K S P E R Web Site <http://www.shaksper.net>

DISCLAIMER: Although SHAKSPER is a moderated discussion list, the
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