In 1564, a man was born by the name of William Shakespeare. He was born to a poor family, was given little education, and had no interaction with sophisticated society. Thirty-eight plays and over 150 sonnets are not attributed to this ignorant man. Those who believe that Shakespeare was the author have no definitive proof but instead point to Hamlet’s declaration: “The play’s the thing(Satchell 71).” The true author, however, lies hidden behind he name of Shakespeare. Edward de Vere the premier Earl of Oxford is not only considered a great poet in history, but he may also be the great playwright who concocted the sonnets and plays which are now attributed to William Shakespeare of Stratford, England.Edward de Vere was the Lord Great Chamberlain and the seventeenth Earl of Oxford. He was raised as a Royal Ward and from a very young age was educated in the sports and arts of nobility. Although disgraceful for a nobleman to waste time writing frivolous plays, Oxford as a young man wrote and staged the entertainment for the court. As an adult, he became engrossed in theatrical performances and frittered away his fortunes in support of several writers and actors (Friedman 13). During this time, De Vere also began writing several poems and plays. Much like Samuel Clemens, who wrote under the name of Mark Twain, Oxford adopted the pseudonym Shakespeare. Soon after plays appeared under the name of “Shakespeare,” poems by de Vere ceased (Russell 5). Coincidently, the coat of arms of Lord Bulbeck, a third title of Edward de Vere, is a lion shaking a spear (Ogburn 10). De Vere was also known by the people as the “spear-shaker” because of excellence at the tilts and at jousting (Russell 5).Many believe this pen name was for protection. Many of the plays said to have been written by Shakespeare explicitly describe the corruption in court politics and contain “thinly veiled satires...
