I’m a mother of two and a recent graduate of The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) where I’ve finally, after seven years of grueling study, earned my English degree.
As an assignment for one of my classes, I was given the task of creating and maintaining a blog, and here it is!
Now it’s my personal goal to keep this blog inquisitive, informative, and intriguing with a fresh perspective on Shakespeare.
Why Shakespeare? I want others to learn that there is more to the Bard than what we’ve traditionally been taught.
There is the orthodox, Stratfordian legend taught for years in academia. But there is also an underground well of research, spanning a couple of centuries, that is finally rising to mainstream — the Shakespeare Authorship Question (SAQ).
The SAQ is controversial because it challenges the staunchly supported, yet primarily unsubstantiated collection of “facts” about the man, William Shaksper from Stratford-Upon-Avon and his legendary identity as the exalted author of the Shakespeare Canon of plays, sonnets, and epic poetry.
Ever since David Garrick’s Shakespeare Jubilee of 1769, the marketing of Shakespeare as the “small town boy genius who makes it, Big Time” has been tremendously profitable for the otherwise obscure village of Stratford-Upon-Avon and anyone whose bank account is tapped directly into the perpetuation of this myth.
Believe it or not, studying Shakespeare can be fun when you learn more about the world of the writer.
My objective is to get this message across to students of all ages. Nothing too intimidating here, but I hope to provide just enough of thought-provoking material to encourage you do further research.
Shakes-Query 
Congratulations on some fine scholastic research, Deb. I hope you have had a chance to read the classic work on the authorship question by Charleton Ogburn Jr., THE MYSTERIOUS WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE — THE MYTH AND THE REALITY. (around 1980).
He explores all the proposed candidates, including Bacon and Marlowe, giving pros and cons for each, but he concludes the most likely one to have used the pen name of “William Shakespeare” was Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. Oxford had the characteristics we would expect from the plays and poems: excellent education, the royal connections, the travels around Europe, the life experiences (love & grief), and the vast knowledge of languages and botany and legal procedures.
Matt: Thanks for the compliments on my blog’s layout! I wasn’t sure what to use as the background until I stumbled upon this Elizabethan tapestry. To be honest, I know nothing of Marlowe’s life but would love to learn as much as I can. For someone who was never interested in history, suddenly I can’t get enough! I appreciate your readership and hope that you might continue to follow me in my studies.
A great layout–the embroidered background is a nice touch. I’m not sure if this is the right part of the blog to float this bit of business out upon, but the questions surrounding Marlowe’s life have always fascinated me. I believe (along with many others) that, had he lived, he would have surpassed Shakespeare as a writer, which makes his death all the more tragic (bad pun intended). All those lengthy periods of absence from the London theatre; the mysterious/unlikely circumstances of his death (if he did die!); and the possibility that he may have been the original James Bond, spying on France for Queen E.. I know its all conjecture, but it could be more Elizabethan identity theft…