Was Shakspere educated enough to write Shakespeare's plays and poems?

 

 

Shakspere's family was considerably illiterate: unable to read, write, or sign their own names. Records show that Shakspere only attended a well-known grammar school in his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon. With that in mind, does that deem him unqualified to be the author of the plays? The Stratfordians believe that this school prepared him well in the fields of Latin and literature. This definitely keeps him a top candidate for authorship. However, Oxfordians believe that Shakspere received hardly the education necessary to write the high quality of Shakespeare's plays.

With Shakspere living as a peasant most of his life, how would he know so much about monarchy and nobility to be able to write so much about these subjects in his plays? After Shakspere got married, he moved to London. There he may have met many merchants and travelers whom he probably gained a lot of knowledge concerning the throne from.

--Adam Woytowich

Sources:

Matus, Irvin L. Shakespeare, In Fact. New York, NY: Continuum, 1994. 31-50.

Ogburn, Charlton. The Mysterious William Shakespeare: The Myth and Reality. McLean, VA: EPM Publications, 1992. 40-46.

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