Can we know who wrote Shakespeare?

A mystery of our time is whether William Shakspere or another person wrote the plays that we give credit to Shakespeare for writing today. The main person to be the alternate author for the works is the Earl of Oxford, Edward de Vere. de Vere, unlike Shakespeare, we know a lot about. This gives people a lot of room to speculate about Shakespeare's history. This gives the de Vere supporters the ability to make all sorts of reasons for why Shakspere couldn't have written the plays, although looking into the subject you find evidence that supports the opposite of what they say.

de Vere supporters say that only a well-educated man could have written the works and Shakespeare wasn't educated at all. Shakespeare should have been educated in his hometown, being the son of a prominent merchant. Whether he attended the school or not can't be proven for there are no records of attendance like with most other schools of the time. There is another schooling he could have had later in life: learning from his experiences, dreams and friends. Having many friends he could have learned other languages, such as French, which he could have used to read texts that had not yet been translated into English. de Vere had a grade-A education and knew of the court through experiences, but what true experiences did he have as your average Joe with all the noble blood he did have in him?

The experiences of both men were great and this means neither can be ruled out for lack of them. de Vere did spend a little time with the commoner and Shakspere spent time with the nobles he met before or after performing for them. This means they could put 2 and 2 together. Shakspere would have had an easier time with this because he could ask the nobles more specific questions on their lifestyles and hobbies then de Vere ever would have been able to.

Through all the smoke screens de Vere supporters put up, it is clear that Shakespeare could have written any of these works whether it be a play or a sonnet. This means that we will more then likely never know who wrote those works. Shakspere doesn't have much more going for him, but he does have enough to convince many people that he did write those works.

--Michael J. Covert

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