Shakespeare: The Genius is the Thing...

 From Laura Crockett at The History Desk:

There is a school of thought that suggests Shakespeare didn’t write his own material. As the son of a glove maker, which made him of the merchant class, the overall question goes, how could such a young man know so much about politics, history and Italians?

Good question. I’ll give you my answer.

Firstly, he wasn’t your average middle class guy when it comes to our context. He would be a very smart kid in any era. He attended the grammar school set up for the merchant’s children in Stratford. School was for boys, and boys were taught basic stuff, like math (these are merchant children, math is important), grammar, (it was called grammar school for a reason), and stuff no longer taught in our schools until university; Latin and classical Greek. He would also learn history, especially his own country’s past. Which would include the time the Romans set foot in England, and stayed for 400 years. Ergo, young Will would know Latin, which means he could read the literature of old, plus have a handle on Italian. With that classical educational background, when he was ready to write, he had plenty of resources for a good beginning.

Secondly, actors like words. Words are their tools. Like a carpenter loves his saw, it is what he does with it that matters. Actors are the same. Some words are meant to be savored, because they provide nuance, insight, into the character the actor assumes.

Writers build the tools that actors use. That makes writers gaga over words. With words, they will create a world for the actor to inhabit. Using that tool, and with guidance from a director, or, if you will, the carpenter, the actors will draw the audience into the world they are presenting. Being that Shakespeare wore both hats, writer and actor, he had a special insight into what he was doing up on that stage.

Like all writers, Shakespeare would keep up a steady amount of reading. However, reading helps the actor as well. An actor cannot convey every situation unless he as done a bit of reading. (Only male actors were allowed to act in Shakespeare’s day.) Actors portraying the female roles probably mimicked more than acted. True, like all theaters everywhere, there were a fair amount of gay men in the troop of actors. Historically, theatre people have always been liberal in their attitudes about life. But not their politics.

To say that Shakespeare did not write his works is like saying Einstein didn’t write his theories.

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