William Shakespeare: Woman?

William Shakespeare is considered one of most famous and profound writers in English history. For centuries, audiences have gathered to see the classic plays of Shakespeare everywhere from London to Beijing. Even today, Shakespeare's works are proudly produced in countless cities across the globe. But what if Shakespeare isn't quite the Shakespeare that we believe him to be? Scholars have been questioning the authenticity of William Shakespeare as an author for decades. Some speculate that Shakespeare's plays may actually be the work of Christopher Marlowe, or perhaps Francis Bacon. While these theories do have some support throughout the literary community, there is another author that may have anonymously written Shakespeare's catalogue. When analyzing the history, status, and linguistic style of Shakespeare's plays, it becomes clear that poet Amelia Bassano Lanier is the most likely candidate to be the true author of Shakespeare's works.

While the authorship of Shakespeare's works is still up for debate by many scholars, there is no denying the existence of a William Shakespeare in Stratford-upon-Avon. There are no birth records for William Shakespeare; however, there are records of his baptism at the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon dating back to April 26th, 1564. William Shakespeare was the third child of John Shakespeare and Mary Arden. John was a leather merchant, and Mary was the heiress to her family's farm. There is no proof that William Shakespeare was educated, although many speculate that he may have been educated at The King's New School, in Stratford. The King's New School would have offered education in reading, writing, and the classics. By 1592, there is evidence of Shakespeare making his living as an actor and playwright. He later became a managing partner of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, with whom he also performed. It is believed that he died on April 23rd, 1616 (Biography 1).

As a part of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, Shakespeare is known to have both written and performed in several plays. And yet, it is difficult to name Shakespeare as the sole author for many of the plays he wrote during this time. As a principal writer, actor, and administrative member of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, Shakespeare must have collaborated beyond the text. And in that regard, it can be said that all theatrical works are collaborative to some extent. Because scripts were distributed to actors with only the lines of their role, it is thought that some dialogue may have been added in rehearsals by the performers. "Plays were written extempore by the acting company as they rehearsed; that actors...could contribute to and fill in the blanks of speeches and plays that Shakespeare initiated," (Sharpe 33). Additionally, collaboration was a common practice amongst Renaissance writers at this time. For example, Shakespeare's Pericles is known to be a collaborative work between Shakespeare and playwright George Wilkins, as Wilkins wrote Acts I and II, and Shakespeare wrote Acts III-V (Sharpe 35). It is clear that Shakespeare was not truly the sole author on all of his works; however, this does not completely nullify Shakespeare's claim as the author of his own work. According to Will Sharpe, "We can tell styles apart, therefore authorship is individual," (Sharpe 35). In that case, Shakespeare is credited not for being the sole author for his works, but instead for his style of writing.

Shakespeare wrote in blank verse, which was fairly common at the time. What set Shakespeare's writing apart from that of other Renaissance writers was the imagery and vocabulary of his work. For example, whereas Marlowe utilized images drawn from books, the sun, planets, etc; Shakespeare's imagery included that of nature, animals, and everyday domestic images. Shakespeare also had a tendency to utilize imagery from indoor life, such as cooking, fire, and light. Marlowe, on the other hand, preferred celestial images (Spurgeon 14). Shakespeare's domestic imagery immediately lends itself to the possibility of being written by a woman. As a man in Elizabethan England, it would not have been particularly common for Shakespeare to help with the cooking or everyday domestic life. However, all of his imagery suggests that these domestic activities are fundamental to his (or whomever the author may be's) life. Shakespeare is also famous for creating his own vocabulary that was clearly distinctive from that of other Renaissance writers. Because of these unique qualities, scholars are able to differentiate between different authors even when studying collaborative works.

While these contrasting styles are usually telling of a particular author, there is one author whose style seems to directly match that of William Shakespeare's-- Poet Amelia Bassano Lanier was the first woman to publish a volume of poetry in England, and her work is strikingly similar to that of Shakespeare's. "Looked at closely, and compared to Shakespeare’s works, there are suggestive similarities of literary style, vocabulary, imagery, verse form, theology, composition, sources, dramatic devices, and use of innovation," (Hudson 68). For example, both authors utilize the imagery of frost, which was extremely uncommon at the time. Throughout Bassano Lanier's work, there are obscure references to goddesses and other images that are found only in Shakespeare's work. Both authors tend to use the same irregular vocabulary, essentially creating one style that is almost impossible to differentiate (Hudson 69). Therefore, it is possible that Bassano Lanier's writing may have already infiltrated the Shakespearean cannon, unbeknownst to scholars.

Amelia Bassano Lanier was born in London in 1569 to a Venetian family of secret Jews. Having migrated to England circa 1538, the Bassanos soon became the court recorder troupe, contributing stage music for plays and masques. Because of her family's musical talent, Amelia was privileged enough to receive an education, and was educated by Countess Susan Bertie. Bertie was an advocate for female literacy so that women may be able to read the bible. Being of Venetian descent, Amelia was described in records to be black, and her dark skin caused her to stand out amongst the other women in London. She soon became mistress for Henry Carey, the Lord Chamberlain. This offered her the opportunity to learn about theatre, and easily explains how she might have learned to write for the stage if she is in fact the true author of the Shakespearean cannon. Amelia's close relatives ultimately began working in the theatre for the King's Men, performing, designing sets, composing music, etc. This constant exposure to the theatre may have easily incited a passion in Amelia to begin writing her own work.

In 1592, Amelia became pregnant, and was then married off to her first cousin. Her husband squandered her money and stripped her of all noble titles. It was the Earl of Southampton that eventually advocated for her husband so that they may be free of their financial distress. Shortly afterwards, The Rape of Lucrece was published (attributed to Shakespeare) and dedicated to the Earl of Southampton (Hudson 67). The poem explores darkness as an image and concealment for women, elements that are clearly relevant to Amelia at this point in her life. "Shakespeare seems in The Rape of Lucrece to be trying to define an unorthodox, dynamic version of female identity in terms of hiddenness or concealment," (SS 36).  The theme of hiding throughout the piece directly parallels the concealment of Amelia as she was secretly married off to her cousin to avoid public scandal. Additionally, the piece is somewhat Machiavellian in nature, with a strong tie to Renaissance humanism. Because of Amelia's Venetian background and education, she is much more likely to have access to this type of source material than William Shakespeare, an English actor who is arguably uneducated.

Amelia's background as a whole provides a more logical background for many of the plays contributed to Shakespeare. Because of her Italian heritage, she is much more likely to know the detailed geography of Italy that is featured in so many of Shakespeare's plays (ie: The Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet). Additionally, because her family was among the secret Jews, Amelia was far more likely to experience the prejudices set against the Jewish people in England, whereas William Shakespeare had likely never even met a Jew, as Jewish people were not permitted to live in England at the time. Even simply looking at some of the character names in Shakespeare's plays- "Bassanio," in The Merchant of Venice; and "Aemelia" in Othello, for example, create a clear parallel between the work and Amelia. Specifically looking at Othello, Amelia's dark skin creates a clear artistic pull in which she could have gathered inspiration for the character, where again, it is unlikely that William Shakespeare had ever met a dark skinned person aside from Amelia (Hudson 72).

There are also parallels to Amelia's life in the play Taming of the Shrew. It has been suggested that the character of Katherina is based on Amelia (Hudson 72). This makes sense because of the play's feminist nature. Whereas the character of Katherina is perceived by her male counterparts as a "shrew," she really only demands the respect that they show to each other. For Amelia, if she was indeed writing these plays and crediting them to William Shakespeare, the parallel creates a perfect fit in which Amelia is lashing out at the sexism of the Renaissance. In fact, it would not quite make sense for a man like Shakespeare to have written such a powerful female character as Katherina. During that period, only noblewomen were allowed education, and even then it was not common, and common women were not permitted to be educated at all. Women were expected to be entirely dependent on their husband or male family members, and unmarried women were deemed to be social outcasts. Women were seen as nothing more than domestic wives, meant to make the home and raise the children. For William Shakespeare to be raised in a society in which women are reduced to housewives, and then write a play in which the lead character rejects that stereotype and demands equality simply does not make sense (Elizabethan Women 1).

As for the character of Petruchio, his deeply misogynistic nature can be read as either the hero of the story or a farce of the way that men acted towards women during the Renaissance. Petruchio is completely disrespectful and forceful, displaying both brute strength and a sense of condescending wit. "Petruchio consistently plays the role of a bully in his relationship with Kate, and it is, indeed, the means by which he transforms her from a quarrelsome shrew to a sweet-tempered and obedient wife. Not only does he frustrate her every wish, but he subjects her to mental anguish in the humiliation brought upon her by his attire and behavior at their wedding and to physical abuse in causing her horse to dump her Into the mud, in preventing her from sleeping night after night, and in keeping food from her with the declared intention of starving her into submission," (Pederson 15). This may have been written to parallel the mistreatment that Amelia felt in her own love life as Henry Carey's mistress and later her cousin Alfonso's wife. Similarly to Taming of the Shrew, Amelia was not given a choice in her marriage, and was instead bullied into it by the men in her life.

As a managing partner of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, it is only natural that William Shakespeare would become the front man for the plays of that company. However, this does not necessarily mean that he had written the plays himself. In fact, Shakespeare's authorship was in question even during the peak of his popularity, as some of his contemporaries suggested that the works were actually being written by Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford (Anderson ix). This theory is still very popular amongst academics today, believing that William Shakespeare did not have the proper education to write such profound plays. In September of 2007, actor Derek Jacobi and former artistic director of the Globe theatre Mark Rylance announced a "Declaration of Reasonable Doubt," which was "an educational charity dedicated to raising awareness of the Shakespeare identity question," (Farouky 1) . This declaration urged academics all over the world to accept the possibility that Shakespeare may not be the true author of his plays and to begin taking a more serious interest in researching who the real author may be.

Many scholars have argued that the true authorship of "Shakespeare's" work is irrelevant, as the plays are of no consequence if they had been written by William Shakespeare, or Amelia Bassano Lanier, or even Mickey Mouse. However, it is of great importance that the true author of these plays is discovered because of the cultural impact that they have had on English society. "Establishing Shakespeare as an authorial presence within a play will invariably influence subsequent acts of literary criticism upon it," (Sharpe 30). The author of these plays determines the social lens that the play is set in. For example, look at Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew again. Written by a male at the time, it can be argued that the play is a commentary on "shrewish" women that simply do not know their place in society. In this lens, the character of Katherina is truly the villain and Petruchio our hero for finally putting her into her place. Alternatively, if the play was written by a Renaissance woman, the set of circumstances completely changes. In this lens, Katherina is a tragic hero who is simply pursuing her right to speak against authority and demand what is best for her own happiness. During the Renaissance, Shakespeare was "A figure who helped make the world who made him," (Sharpe 31). It is important to know the identity of those who have shaped the world and created such a monumental cultural impact on society and history. Shakespeare's plays have been performed for over 400 years, obviously proving that they are impactful and relevant in today's society.

In studying Shakespeare, it is almost impossible to avoid the topic of authorship. Because of the profound nature of the work, many scholars have begun to doubt the authenticity of Shakespeare as an author and instead investigated other sources that may have contributed or even written entire works within the Shakespeare cannon. While there is no clear answer as to who exactly wrote the plays, there is a very strong case for Amelia Bassano Lanier as an educated woman who happens to be personally connected to a great deal of Shakespeare's plays. If it was in fact a young woman who wrote Shakespeare's works, English history and culture is privy to perhaps the greatest feminist hero of all time.

Works Cited

Anderson, Mark. "Shakespeare" by Another Name: The Life of Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford, The Man Who Was Shakespeare. New York: Gotham, 2005. Print.

"Elizabethan Women." Elizabethan Women. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.

Hudson, John. "Amelia Bassano Lanier: A New Paradigm." Organizing Around Intelligence The New Paradigm (2009): 23-31. Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship. 2009. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.

London, Jumana Farouky /. "The Mystery of Shakespeare's Identity." Time. Time Inc., 13 Sept. 2007. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.

Pederson, Lise. “Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew VS. Shaw’s Pygmalion: Male Chauvinism VS. Women’s LIB?” Fabian Feminist: Bernard Shaw and Woman. Ed. Rodelle Weintraub. University Park: Pennsylvania State University, 1977.

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Sharpe, Will. "Framing Shakespeare's Collaborative Authorship." Shakespeare Survey 67 (n.d.): n. pag. Print.

Spurgeon, Caroline F. E. Shakespeare's Imagery, and What It Tells Us. Cambridge: UP, 1935. Print.

"William Shakespeare Biography." The Biography.com Website. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.