While I take the mantle of conspiracy theorist with a pinch of salt, I also take it as a compliment. Why? Because I’m in good company, not just among my fellow ‘theorists’ but the father of conspiracies himself, William Shakespeare. For a start, Shakespeare had a vocabulary of around 24,000 words, the most for any writer, ever. That’s about four times the average well-educated person today. He is also estimated to have contributed between 1,700-3,000 words to the English language. Over 135 phrases and idioms from his works entered the vernacular and we still use them today, most of us without knowing it.
That the actor William Shaksper was the author William Shake-speare is itself one of the biggest conspiracies of history. When the playwright Beaumont died in 1615, King James proclaimed a period of mourning and Beaumont's plays were revived and staged. The following year, the actor Shaksper died. Crickets. "Shakespeare" was likely the 17th Earl of Oxford, Francis Bacon, Kit Marlowe or, as I suspect, all three plus a couple others (Nash, Greene) thrown into the mix, all under the same pseudonym. Thus the mammoth vocabulary, a vocabulary not of one man, but several.
Shakespeare impresses me as some sort of version of Homer. Who was also somewhat of a mystery. I place Homer in the early 5th Century BCE by the way. Not sure what that means for Shakespeare....
Haha, how about we get meta-conspiratorial and entertain the theory that Shakespeare never existed?
It’s Greek to me, but in my heart of hearts, I believe truth will out.
I have not slept one wink, so to sleep, perchance to dream …
That the actor William Shaksper was the author William Shake-speare is itself one of the biggest conspiracies of history. When the playwright Beaumont died in 1615, King James proclaimed a period of mourning and Beaumont's plays were revived and staged. The following year, the actor Shaksper died. Crickets. "Shakespeare" was likely the 17th Earl of Oxford, Francis Bacon, Kit Marlowe or, as I suspect, all three plus a couple others (Nash, Greene) thrown into the mix, all under the same pseudonym. Thus the mammoth vocabulary, a vocabulary not of one man, but several.
Shakespeare impresses me as some sort of version of Homer. Who was also somewhat of a mystery. I place Homer in the early 5th Century BCE by the way. Not sure what that means for Shakespeare....