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October 29, 2012
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For more than two hundred years after William Shakespeare's death, no one doubted that he had written his plays. Since then, however, dozens of candidates have been proposed for the authorship of what is generally agreed to be the finest body of work by a writer in the English language. In this remarkable book, Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro explains when and why so many people began to question whether Shakespeare wrote his plays. Among the doubters have been such writers and thinkers as Sigmund Freud, Henry James, Mark Twain, and Helen Keller. It is a fascinating story, replete with forgeries, deception, false claimants, ciphers and codes, conspiracy theories—and a stunning failure to grasp the power of the imagination.
As Contested Will makes clear, much more than proper attribution of Shakespeare’s plays is at stake in this authorship controversy. Underlying the arguments over whether Christopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon, or the Earl of Oxford wrote Shakespeare’s plays are fundamental questions about literary genius, specifically about the relationship of life and art. Are the plays (and poems) of Shakespeare a sort of hidden autobiography? Do Hamlet, Macbeth, and the other great plays somehow reveal who wrote them?
Shapiro is the first Shakespeare scholar to examine the authorship controversy and its history in this way, explaining what it means, why it matters, and how it has persisted despite abundant evidence that William Shakespeare of Stratford wrote the plays attributed to him. This is a brilliant historical investigation that will delight anyone interested in Shakespeare and the literary imagination.
Product Description
For more than two hundred years after William Shakespeare's death, no one doubted that he had written his plays. Since then, however, dozens of candidates have been proposed for the authorship of what is generally agreed to be the finest body of work by a writer in the English language. In this remarkable book, Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro explains when and why so many people began to question whether Shakespeare wrote his plays. Among the doubters have been such writers and thinkers as Sigmund Freud, Henry James, Mark Twain, and Helen Keller. It is a fascinating story, replete with forgeries, deception, false claimants, ciphers and codes, conspiracy theories—and a stunning failure to grasp the power of the imagination.
As Contested Will makes clear, much more than proper attribution of Shakespeare’s plays is at stake in this authorship controversy. Underlying the arguments over whether Christopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon, or the Earl of Oxford wrote Shakespeare’s plays are fundamental questions about literary genius, specifically about the relationship of life and art. Are the plays (and poems) of Shakespeare a sort of hidden autobiography? Do Hamlet, Macbeth, and the other great plays somehow reveal who wrote them?
Shapiro is the first Shakespeare scholar to examine the authorship controversy and its history in this way, explaining what it means, why it matters, and how it has persisted despite abundant evidence that William Shakespeare of Stratford wrote the plays attributed to him. This is a brilliant historical investigation that will delight anyone interested in Shakespeare and the literary imagination.
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review
30 of 39 people found the following review helpful  A fascinating book about the frailty of human beings who yearn to believe strange things., June 29, 2010 This review is from: Contested Will (Kindle Edition) There is something about Shakespeare scholarship which engenders greatness: Greenblatt, Kermode, Wells, Shapiro, Bate, Bloom--these are not dry scholars, but deep thinkers, writers of powerful prose, all with a profound sense of life in other times. None of them believes that someone other than Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare's works.
But there is a long tradition that Francis Bacon or Edward deVere (or many others) wrote Shakespeare's works, and that somehow generations of scholars have been fooled. Why anyone would think anything so preposterous on the face of it, has always interested me. I once put it down to snobbery, that the son of a glove-maker from Stratford could not have been smart enough to write such plays.
But it is more complicated than this. Shapiro's main idea is that many people want to believe that such great writing has to be based on experience, and Shakespeare could not have had the experiences which led to the poems and plays... Read more Help other customers find the most helpful reviews Was this review helpful to you?  
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful The Place to Begin, April 23, 2012 My interest in the Shakespeare authorship controversy was piqued by the movie "Anonymous" (2011). "Anonymous" provides an insight into the fervor which this debate has sparked, but it also serves as a caveat. "Anonymous" presents the most extreme theory (the "Prince Tudor" plot) as fact. Seeing it made me want to find an examination of the controversy which is thorough, painstaking, even-handed and cogent. James Shapiro's "Contested Will" rises to the task.
As a story in and of itself, the origins and profligation of the authorship debate are much more entertaining to read about than "Anonymous" was to watch. Many, many notables became involved over the years in this kerfuffle, including Mark Twain, Sigmund Freud, Henry James, Helen Keller, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne... and in the 20th century, three Supreme Court judges who conducted a 'moot court' to hear the various arguments.
Shapiro, who is a professor at Columbia University, is well... Read more Help other customers find the most helpful reviews Was this review helpful to you?
17 of 22 people found the following review helpful Great scholarly book on the authorship of Shakespeare's plays, May 30, 2011 This review is from: Contested Will (Kindle Edition) In America, the debate is about who killed JFK. This argument was preceded about two hundred years ago by who wrote Shakespeare's plays. Shapiro offers an exhaustive account on why people began to question Shakespeare as the author of plays. He starts off with an American named Delia Bacon, continues on with Mark Twain, Henry James, Sigmund Freud, and the list goes on. It's quite interesting to see how important names in literary history fall in the trap of believing things that are supported by pseudo research. From revealing secret codes, to communicating with ghosts of Shakespeare's era, to concocting stories of incestuous relationships between Queen Elizabeth and the Earl of Oxford (who was supposed to be the queen's son and lover) that dwarfs JFK and Marilyn Monroe's scandalous relationship considerably. None of the supporters of Oxford or Bacon have ever completed a true research that merits to call these men the true authors. Part of the problem is modernity, explains Shapiro... Read more Help other customers find the most helpful reviews Was this review helpful to you?
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