| A new wave of controversy about Shakespeare's personality has begun in Europe and America. On June 24, the British literary circle “De Vere Society” solemnly celebrated a very significant anniversary date - the 400th anniversary of the death of the author of “Hamlet” and “Romeo and Juliet”. Those who remember the date of death of William Shakespeare will probably be surprised: after all, according to all encyclopedias, the Bard died on April 23, 1616. But the members of this society were not at all going to honor the actor Shakespeare: they sincerely believe that the author of great tragedies and comedies was not he, but the Earl of Oxford, Edward de Vere, who lived in the same era. For an Elizabethan aristocrat, de Vere received an excellent education, studying at Oxford and Cambridge, and traveling around the world. And, according to the De Vere Society, he is the greatest British playwright, and not William Shakespeare. It’s just that the count, not wanting to sully his noble name, chose this actor as the pseudo-author of his own works.
Official British Shakespeare studies were once again offended by de Vere's fans who staged such an action. Stanley Wells, chairman of the Shakespeare Homeland Trust, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, angrily declared: “This is all complete nonsense! Shakespeare's plays were written by Shakespeare, not de Vere! However, Wells is no stranger to such refutations: after all, whoever has been tipped for the role of “the true author of Hamlet” - for example, the playwright Christopher Marlowe or the philosopher Francis Bacon. There are even suggestions that Shakespeare is the British Kozma Prutkov, since behind this pseudonym a whole group of authors was hiding. In literary studies, a term has already appeared for those researchers who stubbornly refuse to believe that William Shakespeare had the talent of a playwright - “non-Stratfordians.” And sometimes it seems that there are more of them than those who trust Shakespeare's authorship. At least they promote their product much more actively - in the “Scandals and Sensations” sections of newspapers, while the traditional point of view is present mainly in boring school textbooks.
It is difficult to understand why the literary public is so reluctant to imagine the actor William Shakespeare as the author of Hamlet, Macbeth and the hundredth sonnet. Apparently, the ordinary actor from the Globus Theater seems too small a figure against the background of his majestic tragedies. It is not easy to believe that the notorious Shakespearean passions were created by a man whose life outside the stage was, apparently, practically devoid of at least some bright events. In any case, serious (and much more often frivolous) Shakespeare scholars have been amusing themselves for many years by attributing Shakespeare's plays to various of the playwright's contemporaries. Shakespearean conspiracy theorists just need to find some Englishman of that era who had enough education to write at least a couple of lines of dramatic dialogue, and they can build a new theory.
So, while fans of the “unknown genius” de Vere were once again celebrating the anniversary of the death of their idol, American researcher Robin Williams came up with a new super version: in his opinion, Shakespeare’s works were written by a woman. He attributes the authorship of the plays to Mary Pembroke, Countess of Oxford. He claims that this aristocrat was fond of writing dramas, but the strict morals of that era did not allow her to sign her real name (theater was considered a low art, unworthy of a noble lady). Therefore, her brilliant plays were performed under the name of the actor William Shakespeare, whose reputation this could not tarnish.
To prove his own version, Williams cites several indirect evidence. For example, the collection of dramatic works of William Shakespeare was dedicated to the Earls of Pembroke and Montgomery, sons of Countess Mary. The American also discovered some “dubious” passages in the Bard’s sonnets. In his opinion, if they were written by a man, this would clearly indicate his homosexuality. And if we assume that the author is a woman, then everything falls into place - they say, this is normal heterosexual passion. Another “clue” is connected with the nickname of the Swan of Avon, given to Shakespeare by the playwright and poet Ben Jonson. Williams found out that Mary Pembroke owned an estate on the Avon River, and her symbol was the swan. One can only guess how the cunning Ben Jonson knew about the true authorship of “King Lear” and “The Tempest” that was so carefully hidden. It only remains to add that the version of the American scientist, voiced at a conference of Shakespeare scholars, was conveyed to the general public by the German tabloid Bild, which somewhat reduces the credibility of Robin Williams’s constructions. Vladimir DZAGUTO |
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