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Shakespeare did not write his own plays, claims Sir Derek Jacobi
Mark Blunden23 Apr 2009
TWO leading Shakespearean actors have joined the doubters who believe the bard did not write the plays.
Sir Derek Jacobi and Mark Rylance, also former artistic director of Shakespeare's Globe, believe his works were written by an aristocrat. They made the claims during a debate at Brunel University. Today is Shakespeare's birthday and also the day he died.
Both actors are among a group of 1,400 people who signed a "declaration of reasonable doubt" into the works. Sir Derek said he was "99.9 per cent certain" the actual author of the plays and sonnets was Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford.
The group says the case for Shakespeare writing his own material rests on testimony contained in the First Folio plays published in 1623, seven years after his death. But there is no corroborative documentary evidence from his life.
Rylance said: "With the man from Stratford [Shakespeare] we don't know how he gathered the life experience and book learning that's very, very apparent in the work attributed to him."
Oxford was well educated and travelled widely.
Reader views (18)
I'm disappointed in Jacobi. Shakespeare's will left money to Hemings and Condyll (excuse spelling), his colleagues in the theater; De Vere died in 1603 before half the plays were written; and Ben Jonson in the Folio refers to Shakespeare as the Swan of Avon, linking him to Stratford. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Maybe Jacobi thinks JFK was killed by the CIA too.
- Neil Bostock, new york, usa, 03/07/2009 00:01
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Footling stuff. The fact is that for the purposes of literary and aesthetic enjoyment of the plays, the question over authorship is a miniscule matter to be left to those who enjoy teasing out miniscule matters. "The play's the thing".
- Stan, Exeter, UK, 26/05/2009 17:09
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This is classic snobbery at its absolute worst. Shame on you Derek Jacobi. Please stick to acting in future.
- Stephen W, Camberwell, London, 26/05/2009 16:09
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In reality, upon further study of the topography of Europe in the 16th century, Shake-speare's references demonstate not only accuracy, but also a detailed understanding of the various areas he mentions in his plays.
- Emily Sanford, San Francisco USA, 26/05/2009 16:09
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With reference to Tempest Fugit's comment - Sir Derek Jacobi is a Cambridge MA with a lifetime's experience of performing Shakespeare. I rather think this entitles him to express his opinion without being subjected to personal denigration.
- Christine Plummer, Dunfermline, Scotland, 26/05/2009 16:09
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Shakespeare was a real man, not a dilettante aristocrat. His father was mayor of Stratford, and he had a good grammar school education. He was quite possibly a tutor before coming to London. He became part of the group of actors that performed for the royal court, and he was part owner of the Globe. He wrote bawdy, crowd-rousing epics and had no reason to preserve the texts because they were, to him, simply a way of making money. He was a hack, but also a genius. And why not?
Jacobi should know better. If there is one thing sillier than a luvvie talking about himself, it's a luvvie trying to speak intelligent words of his own, rather than those written for him by somebody else.
- Ken, Bexleyheath, 26/05/2009 16:09
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Sorry Alan, but Shakespeare's information was historically accurate, and the real 'Shakespeare' was that well travelled. In 1575 Oxford's Venetian galley took him along what was then the 'deserts of Bohemia'which rose behind the city of Fiume, and had become the port of Bohemia in 1279. 'Shakespeare' did not make a mistake in having his characters travel between Bohemia and Sicily.
- Dorna, Cambridge, Cambridge, U.K., 26/05/2009 16:09
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Not being Posh; Shakespeare wasn't my cup of tea; but who has the right long after he is dead; to say he did or didn't write anything; especially as those that doubt him; were never there in the first place etc.
I think Charles Dickens was far better anyway.
- Mickyinlondon, london, 26/05/2009 16:09
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Alan, Before losing respect for Mr Jacobi, how about doing some research before criticising him? Edward de Vere, who wrote under the pseudonym of 'Shakespeare', spent much of 1575-76 travelling on the Continent, mostly in Italy (based in Venice), and visited almost every city mentioned in the Plays. His supposed geographical inaccuracies in the plays are all totally correct. Bohemia did have a coastline for a short time between 1575 and 1609, which de Vere sailed past. He was also trained in the law at Gray's Inn. Not surprisingly there are also no legal inaccuracies in the plays. Agreed, there is lots of evidence that a William Shakspere of Stratford existed (as he usually styled himself) but none to link him to the plays, apart from some titlepages. All the contemporary references to the playwright Shakespeare never mention he was from Stratford. In Elizabethan times a great number of titlepages were either sseudonymous or unattributed. 'Shake-Speare' is recognisably such a pseudonym of that time. Lastly, why is it that virtually all the plays reflect the life of de Vere and his family and friends? They are the most autobiographical body of plays in the English language. There are hundreds of pieces of strong circumstantial evidence for de Vere as the author, whereas William of Stratford has only a few titlepages and the First Folio to corroborate his claim. The FF, by the way, was financed by de Vere's son-in law and proposed son-in-law. All this, and more, can be Googled.
- Lee Cramond, Adelaide, South Australia, 26/05/2009 16:09
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How many aristocrats have become great artists in any art-form in any country in any era? Virtually none.
- Bloke, London, 26/05/2009 16:09
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But De Vere was clearly not that well travelled as there are various inaccuracies in the plays e.g. Bohemia has no coast (The Winter's Tale). There is in fact lots of evidence that Shakespeare existed and wrote the plays-much of this nonsense comes from the same stable as those who believe that the US Goverment was behind 9/11 
. My respect for Jacobie has diminished.
- Alan, London, 26/05/2009 16:09
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And what about the Tombliboos . . . ?
- Roz, France, 26/05/2009 16:09
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It's a pity this seems to some people a class issue: obviously, genius pops up anywhere. There is no evidence that Shakespeare did go to the Stratford Grammar School, because the page in the register is missing, which could have more than one explanation. The problems with Shakespeare are that both his parents and his children were illiterate, so it would be extraordinary if the greatest writer of all time came in between; how little can be proved about his life, and the sheer, encyclopaedic level of his knowledge: genius can be explained without education, but knowledge cannot.
There are problems with the lifespan of Oxford which some would argue have to rule him out, but Ben Jonson listed Oxford as one of his greatest poetic contemporaries, forgetting to mention Will, which is a little odd.Many of the plots derive from Plutarch, translated into English by Oxford's tutor Golding.
When you think of the fuss that 'Richard II' caused politically, there might be very sound reasons, status aside, for an aristocratic playwright to need a front-man, and who better than the principal actor and producer? Then Oxford fans have to explain the quality of the stagecraft, using few actors to fill many parts; we seem to hear the voices of improvisers in some of the 'clown' roles.
When it comes to a film, only French critics worry about who is the 'auteur'; the rest of us just want to know if it's any good.
- Mdj E10, london uk, 26/05/2009 16:09
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Derck Jacobi would ot know a writer from a block of flats
- Tempest Fugit, Newcastl Australia, 26/05/2009 16:09
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For those who are interested, I suggest that they click on www.doubtaboutwill.org/
- Peter Jones, Figeac, France, 26/05/2009 16:09
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Can someone prove this?
- David Nigel Braham, Milan Italy, 26/05/2009 16:09
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I would like to add that many playwrights at that time used to sell their plays to william shakespire and christopher marlowe. Two good books to read are...
In search of shakespeare by Michael Wood and Shakespeare the biography by Peter Ackroyd.
- David, London, 26/05/2009 16:09
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Most of the plays are just trash that nobody would want to be thought of as writing anyway, U am glad he doesn't get the blame any more
- Keith Price, Luton, England, 26/05/2009 16:09
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