Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Who was Shakespeare?
It seems like no one actually knows who Shakespeare was. Of course, there is a myriad of websites and sources providing information on the man and there have been plenty of rumors about old "Billy Shakes." One rumor being, that he used to be called "Billy Shakes." I've heard that he was left-handed, pirated his plots, wore a gold hoop earring, and was possibly homosexual. I understand that there will always be a certain amount of false information circulating when an author is so widely studied and old, but this seems to be ridiculous. In my opinion, we should just study his works and the culture during the time, because speculating about one person's personal life doesn't really help the reader to learn about the work.
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I agree with you about this in some ways, however, I believe that an author's upbringing and life can have a monumental impact on his writing. For example, in one of my previous blog posts, I wrote about the poet Edna St. Vincent Millay. In Millay's childhood, her mother stressed the importance of an appreciation of literature and music. Also, after her mother forced Edna's abusive father out of the house, she stressed the importance of female independence, strength, and ability to determine her own life. Later on, Millay went on to publish a controversial volume of poetry discussing feminism, female sexuality, and independence of women in the modern world.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of Shakespeare, even though there isn't much information on his personal life, I think that it's possible that there are some autobiographical and personal elements in his plays and sonnets. However, I agree that people shouldn't make assumptions or conspire about the personal elements of his life if there is no solid evidence.