Establishment Rattled?

'The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust . . book of some 20 academic essays . . sets out to prove definitively that Shakespeare wrote the plays and poems attributed to him. Shakespeare Beyond Doubt marks a radical development in the Shakespeare Authorship Question, for it is the first time that the "establishment" has felt the need to acknowledge its existence and importance.

One reason is the publication in paperback of Shakespeare's Unorthodox Biography by American scholar, Diana Price, in which she analyses every piece of evidence in existence concerning Shakespeare and concludes that the case for Shakespeare writing all of the works attributed to him is quite weak. . . Price does not argue for an alternative author but rather shows how the case for Shakespeare is built on mis-readings, mythologising and, often wilful deception.

Of the many contemporary records that exist naming Shakespeare, none call him a writer. A couple show he was an actor and he was certainly involved with the Globe Theatre financially, but the vast majority show him to have been a businessman, moneylender and property investor. Perhaps Price's most important achievement is to show that evidence of a "writing life" exists for all of Shakespeare's contemporaries in the form of manuscripts, letters or payment records, but that nothing exists for Shakespeare other than reviews and posthumous praise. Shakespeare is uniquely absent from the records as a writer.'

FROM: 'I receive hate mail for questioning the authorship of Shakespeare plays: On William Shakespeare's birthday, the establishment wants authorship questions to be put 'beyond doubt'. Is it rattled?' by William Leahy in The Guardian on April 23, 2013.