Who art thou Shakespeare?

An ongoing conspiracy theory has been re-opened with the release of Roland Emmerich’s new film ‘Anonymous’, which addresses the claim that William Shakespeare was not the dominant force of the playwright sphere as history has portrayed him, but was in fact a moniker fabricated to shoulder the credit of someone elses literary genius. It has sparked furious debate amongst ‘Stradfordians’, those in agreement that Shakespeare was indeed ‘The Bard’, and ‘Anti-Stradfordians‘, their cynical counterparts. In the words of Shakespeare himself, he seems to be “in a pickle”.

photo: comingsoon.net

This thespian-addled conspiracy first transpired in the mid-19^th century, when Shakespeare was at the height of his prominence. Rumours began circulating that works of such poetic aptitude and articulation could not possibly have been attributed to William Shakespeare, whose humble background did not fit the reputation his works had built for him.

The film starring Rhys Ifans as Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, the man perputated as being the “real” Shakespeare, has got conspiracy theorists frothing at the mouth, uncovering new ‘evidence’ discrediting Shakespeare, some claiming that the true author of his works is Francis Bacon.