Date of Graduation
2009
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MFA
College
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department
English
Committee Chair
Gail Galloway Adams
Committee Member
M.A Mark Brazaitis
Committee Member
Patrick Conner
Abstract
Suspicions concerning the identity of the poet and dramatist William Shakespeare began to rumble over two centuries ago as doubts were raised suggesting that the man from Stratford credited with the works was in fact not the true author. In the 1780s, a clergyman, Reverend James Wilmot, who was rector of a village near Stratford, launched his own investigation and concluded that William of Stratford was not William Shakespeare, writer of plays. Since then as many as sixty candidates for the role of the famous dramatist-poet have surfaced and have been explored. Shakespearean scholarship has divided into two camps: the Stratfordians (those subscribing to the conventional representation of the Bard) and anti-Stratfordians (those who don’t). Since 1920, anti-Stratfordians have been positioning themselves overwhelmingly behind Edward de Vere, the seventeenth Earl of Oxford as the man who used the nom de plume, William Shakespeare. These scholars and aficionados are referred to as Oxfordians. This novel dramatizes the life of Edward de Vere and the Oxfordian argument.
Recommended Citation
Dorward, Lisa L., "Whose Worth's Unknown: The Life of Edward de Vere, the Man Who Was Shakespeare. A novel." (2009). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 11123.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/11123