-=Queen Elizabeth=Shakespeare?=-

[QuestionMan]

I have recently heard that Queen Eliazbeth may in fact been William Shakespeare. I was wondering if this myth has truth to it or is it just another rumor that was started by a college student who didn't want to do his mid term?

[MrDeath]

Dunno. Did anyone ever see them in a room together?

Shakespeare was active from 1592-1612. Elizabeth died in 1603. Let's call this one a 'highly unlikely'.

[Steve Wright]

I've heard this one before. Apparently, there's a portrait of Elizabeth which has some similarities (curve of the forehead, shape of the nose) to one of Shakespeare. Someone - don't remember who - decided that this was not a coincidence, but a Subtle Clue. Not exactly plausible.

[minty green]

We have examples of Elizabeth's acknowledged poems. They are uniformly drivel. Of course, to the conspiracists, that just means she wrote the bad poetry to throw people off her real literary endeavors.

Strangely enough, however, this post is being written by the Earl of Oxford. Go figure.

[slortar]

I've read some of Elizabeth's writing, too. It has a very different feel to it. Sure, if she was some sort of literary genius, she could fake it... :rolleyes:

[Chronos]

Apparently, there's a portrait of Elizabeth which has some similarities (curve of the forehead, shape of the nose) to one of Shakespeare. Someone - don't remember who - decided that this was not a coincidence, but a Subtle Clue. Not exactly plausible.A Subtle Clue, perhaps, that the same painter did both portraits?

And if Willy was Liz, then who was the guy that Elizabeth commisioned to write Twelfth Night?

[Mr. Miskatonic]

Originally posted by QuestionMan
I have recently heard that Queen Eliazbeth may in fact been William Shakespeare. I was wondering if this myth has truth to it or is it just another rumor that was started by a college student who didn't want to do his mid term?

Sounds like just another attempt by modern revisionists to re-write history. Some just can't concieve of the idea that a son of a glovemaker authored everything that he is credited with.

I have yet to see an arguement for "X wrote all Shakespeare's works" that wasn't 99.9999% hraka.

[Mahaloth]

Of course she wasn't Shakespeare. Leo Tolstoy was. ;)

[Speleophile]

I heard something similiar, though I can't remember the source, except that it wasn't that Liz I actually wrote the plays, but rather that our modern idea of what Bill looked like was based on a picture or bust of the Queen, and that we have no real idea of his actual appearance.

[MrDeath]

But I thought all Shakespeare's works were written by Mr Norman Voles of Gravesend (and his wife helped out with the sonnets).

On a slight aside, the Art Gallery of Ontario (http://info.ago.net/ago_exhibitions/exhibition_specific.cfm?ID=585) has on display through September 23rd what is claimed to be the only extant painting of Shakespeare done from life. Scientists have ascertained that the painting is indeed from around the time of Shakespeare, but as to whom it depicts, the jury is still out. And of course, there's no image of the painting on the Website, so someone who has access to the AGO would have to report to us on it.

Mahaloth: You sure Shakespeare didn't write all the works of Tolstoy?

Mr. Miskatonic: I think you, and the "X wrote Shakespeare" crowd, are missing the point, which is not who wrote them, but that they were written by whatever hand or none at all, for us and others to enjoy for what they are. (Disclosure: I believe it was likely De Vere, but it really doesn't matter.)

Aside #2: MrsDeath volunteers at the Shakespeare-on-the-Saskatchewan Theatre Festival - another don't-miss!

[APB]

The theory is that the frontispiece of the First Folio and the 'Armada' portrait of Elizabeth I show the same person. The following site thoroughly debunks the idea.

http://www.clark.net/tross/ws/elizwill.html