Who wrote those Shakespeare plays?
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Personally, I always thought they were written by a guy named Shaxberd (depending one who you ask) Shakespeare, though it also sometimes is spelled Shakespere, and sometimes as Shakespear, or Shaksper.
Some people, however, claim it the works were written by this guy.
Wow. Never try to post while your supervisor may be walking around behind you…
Anyway, I think the name you’re looking for is “Shakespeare”.
A guy named William Shakespeare. That’s why they’re called “Shakespeare plays.”
I suspect the OP is posing the Authorship Question: that is, if the writings usually attributed to William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon were actually written by him, or by someone else. People who believe that they were not are generally called anti-stratfordians. Common candidates for “real author” include Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe (a contemporary playwright famous under his own name), the Earl of Oxford, and even Queen Elizabeth I.
Personally, I think that the question of authorship is settled, and that Shakespeare really did write what’s commonly attributed to him. Furthermore, the anti-stratfordians strike me as being somewhat classist; arguing, in general, that Shakespeare’s stuff was way too good to have been penned by a mere commoner.
If you’re interested, there’s a good analysis of the authorship question over at Wikipedia.
Yes, William Shakespeare did write the plays ascribed to his name. He did collaborate on a few, especially later, plays, it is now thought, but none of the other candidates have any more than fantasy or special pleading cases to make.
We should pardon the guest here. I know this question has come up so often that old-timers are sick of it, but guests can’t search.
This fairly recent thread not only has some of the discussion, but also links to some of the many, many earlier threads.
What good is the Dope anyway, if it can’t at least dispel this myth every time it comes around?
A question about the authorship issue doesn’t belong in GQ, though, because the factual answer to the question posed is actually the obvious one. To discuss the authorship issue would be much more appropriate in Cafe Society than in GQ.