Shakespeare Identified in Edward De Vere, the Seventeenth Earl of Oxford - Hardcover

J. Thomas Looney

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1334997470 ISBN 13: 9781334997471

Publisher: Forgotten Books, 2018

Synopsis

A restrained, evidence-driven look at the Shakespeare authorship puzzle.

This book weighs the possibility that Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford, wrote the plays and poems attributed to Shakespeare, using archival material, portraits, and contemporary notices to test the theory against the Stratfordian view.

• Traces of Oxford’s life and a literary career that intersects with the plays and poems.
• Portrait comparisons and historical notes that authorship supporters discuss.
• Analysis of poems, sonnets, and dramatic works in light of possible connections to Oxford.
• A careful look at how evidence is gathered, interpreted, and weighed in a long-standing debate.

Ideal for readers curious about literary history, Elizabethan drama, and the Shakespeare authorship question.

About this title

Review

"Shakespeare" Identified in Edward de Vere the Seventeenth Earl of Oxford

Preliminary Note
Introduction

CHAPTER I
The Stratfordian View

Growing scepticism; Ignatius Donnelly; Anti-Stratfordian authorities; "Shakespeare" and law; "Shakespeare's" education; Halliwell-Phillipps; William Shakspere's early life; Shakspeare and Burns; William Shakspere's three periods; Closing period; The Will; Ben Jonson; Hemming and Condell; Penmanship; The "Shakespeare" manuscripts; The First Polio; Obituary silence; William Shakspere's middle period; No participation in publication; Uncertain duration; Uncertain habitation; The great alibi; William Shakspere's silence; Character of contemporary notices; The Stratfordian impossibility; Absence of incidents; No letters; William Shakspere as actor; Municipal records; As London actor; Accounts of Treasurer of Chamber; Missing Lord Chamberlain's books; Notable omissions; Summary.

CHAPTER II
Character of the Problem and Method of Solution

Authorship a mystery; A solution required; Literary authorities; " Shakespeare's" voluntary self-effacement; Genius; Maturity and masterpieces; A modem problem; The method of solution; Stages outlined.

CHAPTER III
The Author: General Features

Recognized genius and mysterious; Appearance of eccentricity; A man apart; Apparent inferiority to requirements of the work; An Englishman of literary tastes; Dramatic interests; A lyric poet; Classical education; Summary.

CHAPTER IV
The Author: Special Characteristics

His feudal partialities; Aristocratic outlook; Lancastrian leanings; Enthusiast for Italy; Sporting tastes; Music; Negligent in money matters; Mixed attitude towards woman; Catholicism and Scepticism; Summary.

CHAPTER V
The Search and Discovery

Choice of guide; Narrowing the operations; The point of contact; The actual quest; An important poem; Seeking expert support ; First indications ; Dictionary of National Biography ; Selection justified; Competing solutions.

CHAPTER VI
Conditions Fulfilled

Personal traits; Personal circumstances; Summary of points attested; Remaining points: Sport, Lancastrianism, Woman, Religion.

CHAPTER VII
Edward de Vere as Lyric Poet

Expert testimony; Dr. Grosart's collection; Oxford's early poetry; Hidden productions; The great literary transition embodied in De Vere; Oxford's style and Shakespeare's. His character in his writings.

CHAPTER VIII
The Lyric Poetry of Edward de Vere

Six-lined stanza; Central theme; Personality; Haggard hawk; Lily and damask rose; Love's difficulties; Love's penalties; Mental distraction; Interrogatives; Stanzas formed of similar lines; A peculiar literary form; Loss of good name; Fortune and Nature; Desire for pity; Echo poems; Romeo and Juliet; The Lark; Tragedy and Comedy.

CHAPTER IX
Records and Early Life of De Vere

Reputation of the Earl of Oxford; Reasons for concealment; The shadow lifting; Need for reinterpretation; False stories; Ancestry of Edward de Vere; Shakespeare and Richard II; Shakespeare and high birth; The Earls of Oxford in the Wars of the Roses; Shakespeare and the Earls of Oxford; The Great Chamberlain; Father of Edward de Vere; Shakespeare and Father worship; A royal ward; "All's well"; a remarkable parallel; Education; Arthur Golding's Ovid; De Vere and law; Life and book-learning; The universities; Relationship with the Cecils; General experiences; Dancing; Shooting; Horsemanship; Early poetry.

CHAPTER X
Early Manhood

Marriage; Sordid considerations; Oxford and Burleigh; Burleigh and literary men; Burleigh's espionage; Hostility; Raleigh; Desire for travel; Unauthorized travel; Visit to Italy; Shake -------

CHAPTER X
Early Manhood

Marriage; Sordid considerations; Oxford and Burleigh; Burleigh and literary men; Burleigh's espionage; Hostility; Raleigh; Desire for travel; Unauthorized travel; Visit to Italy; Shakespeare and travel; Oxford in Italy; Domestic rupture; An Othello argument; A sensational discovery; Kicking over the traces; Burleigh's methods of warfare.

CHAPTER XI
Manhood of De Vere. Middle Period. Dramatic Foreground

Gabriel Harvey; Holofernes; Oxford and Berowne; Philip Sidney; Bovet; Eccentricity; Vulgar scandal; Dramatic activities; Anthony Munday; Agamemnon and Ulysses; Troilus and Cressida; Lyly and the Oxford Boys; Shakespeare and Lyly; Apparent inactivity; Spenser and De Vere; Spenser's ''Willie"; Shakespeare and "Will.'

CHAPTER XII
Manhood of De Vere. An Interlude

Execution of Mary Queen of Scots and funeral of Philip Sidney; Oxford and his times; Shakespeare and politicians; Mary Queen of Scots and Portia; Spanish Armada and Shakespeare; Death of Lady Oxford.

CHAPTER XIII
Manhood op De Vere. Final Period

Material difficulties; Second marriage; An important blank; Shakespeare's method of production; Dating the plays; Rapid issue; Dramatic reserves; Habits of revision; De Vere a precisionist; State plays and literature; Plays as poems; Henry Wriothesley a personal link; Contemporary parties; Southampton, Bacon and De Vere; Death of Queen Elizabeth; The Boar's Head Tavern and Gadshill; Death of De Vere.

CHAPTER XIV
Posthumous Considerations

An unfinished task; Death's arrest; ''Lear" and "Macbeth"; Three periods of Shakespeare publication; Posthumous publications; 'Pericles" and the Sonnets; "King Lear" and "Troilus"; "Hamlet"; First Polio; William Shakspere's purchases; William Shakspere's supposed retirement and Oxford's death; Loyal helpers; Henry Wriothesley; The 1602 gap; Horatio de Vere; The second Lady Oxford; The series of sonnets closes; Summary; A conclusive combination; The substitution.
CHAPTER XV
Poetic Self-Revelation. The Sonnets

Resume of points already treated; Southampton the better angel; W. H. and T. T.; The poet's age; Southampton and Oxford's daughter Elizabeth; a significant marriage proposal; Sentiment of the sonnets; The dark lady; Supplementary details; The inventor of the Shakespearean sonnet; An early sonnet by Edward de Vere; Romeo and Juliet.

CHAPTER XVI
Dramatic Self-revelation Hamlet

Shakespeare's contemporaries in his plays; The dramatist in his dramas; Hamlet and destiny; Hamlet is Shakespeare; De Vere as Hamlet; Hamlet's father and mother; Hamlet and Polonius; Ophelia; Horatio; Patron of Drama; Minor points; Hamlet and his times; Hamlet's dying appeal

CHAPTER XVII
Chronological Summary of Edward de Vere and Shakespeare

CHAPTER XVIII
Conclusion

APPENDIX I
The Tempest

A check; The Tempest and other comedies; Shakespeare's philosophy: Quality of the play; Dumb show and noise; Shakespearean details; Wit; A play apart; Medievalism; Woman; Horsemanship; Sport; Human nature; General Vocabulary; Not " Shakespeare's work.

APPENDIX II
Supplementary Matters

The "Posthumous" argument; Oxford's Crest; Martin Droeshout's engraving; The Grafton portrait. --The book itself contains this

Edition details

• Publisher: Forgotten Books
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1334997470
• ISBN 13: 9781334997471
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 494