This new movie is a theory about how Shakespeare was a fraud. His work is a lie in the sense that he did not author any of his writing. It revisits an old theory that suggests that Edward De Vere, the Earl of Oxford was in fact the true author of what we call Shakepearen literature. It is set in the time period of Queen Elizabeth I’s rise to power which adds the action to this otherwise political thriller.
Though this theory has been in existence for many years, the idea comes as a radical blow to English literature as we know it. Part of the excitement instilled by Shakespeare’s work was because people were in awe at the capacity of one man’s mind considering his social status. It’s one of those “poor’s rise to greatness” type stories. But to think that another man of high social standing actually penned that brilliant work is a little disappointing. It is less inspiring. Apart from that impact, the history of Shakespeare is also a huge part of culture today. His lifestyle has shaped many cultural traditions, mainly in theater. If his fame was faked, then it is difficult to grab the reality in our traditions today. The essence Shakespeare left behind has emotional relevance in our world today. And personally, it would be a heartbreak if his existence was a lie.
Nevertheless, I am anticipating this movie and will probably watch it when it comes on October 28th.
I am taking Theater 100 this quarter. I was assigned to read the text version of Shakespeare's work which is "The Twelfth Night". Honestly, after I read this play, I found nothing in this play could be regarded as great or famous, and I think that was just made by a person who had nothing to do everyday, and all the plots are imagined with no strong reasons or relations. It might because I have no talent of art to understand his "great" work. I feel bored with reading or watching plays. Personally, I would highly believe that all the works were made by Edward De Vere, not Shakespeare. I do not believe a poor person would have time to make art works when he had not enough food to eat or cloth to wear. Finally, I hope my belief could be proven soon by someone.
ReplyDeleteI thought the plot of this movie seemed interesting as well. It definitely makes a mystery out of an old classic. There has always been doubt about the identity of William Shakespeare. His time period was so long ago when records were not kept in computers like they are today. Nevertheless, I believe that this movie is not based on any true facts, and mostly on theory. I'm anticipating a good story, and another way to look at things, but I don't think at all that this movie will disprove Shakespeare's existence.
ReplyDeleteI think that people are interested in taking different theories and think about them nowadays. In English literature, Shakespeare is such a legendary that so many researches have been conducted and so many people have read his work. I agree that people are amazed by how Shakespeare has written and we wanted to dig more about him and his work. Then different theories come up to people and through the movie, people get to think more about it. Movie is a media that help people to generate different ideas and even create more knowledge. No matter what the true is, we get to know another side of the stories.
ReplyDeleteI think the plot of this movie takes a very interesting approach seeing as to how Shakespeare is such a beloved character in history. This movie seems to almost take an opposite view on the man himself. I feel something like this could possibly offend people who have been life-time fans of him. I do however, find the plot to be extremely intriguing, and this seems to be a movie I would enjoy seeing. I am most eager to see exactly which direction they have chosen to go with such an extreme story plot.
ReplyDeleteI am in theater 100 this quarter too with Yang Zhou. Our teacher asked us to read two works of Shakespeare. The antigorne and the twelfth night. I do not agree with Zhou's oponion, I like both of the plays, they both affect me much although one is a comedy and the other one is a tragedy. And I think no matter who wrote the plays, the plays are there for us. They are treasures for all the people after them. So it is not important that who the author is, what important is we do have the plays left today. Just enjoy them, never mind who the author is.
ReplyDeleteEven though I don’t believe it, I still think it is a very interesting opinion. There is a saying that there are a thousand Hamlet for a thousand readers. I’m very interested in different perspective for history. I enjoy searching for the argument and evidence for different perspective of history and judging them whether they are credible.
ReplyDeleteAfter learning some of the poems and drama written by Williams Shakespeare, I found that literature is hard to understand and defined. Some literary work that we think make no sense are considered as the most remarkable woek in human's history.Perhaps the reasons for this are we really don't understand the background of the literary work and the author's implict opinions. But, no matter how many people can really get what Shakespeare wanted to say, the influence of Shakespeare's work in English literature or in human's history is profound. I'd like to study and experience more literary work not only written by Shakespeare.
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