a Bold New Theory!
So in a locked post about the authorship controversy, I got into a conversation with matociquala about name punning as proof of authorship in Shakespeare's plays. I pointed out, when she commented on Shakespeare's punning on his own name as evidence against anyone else's authorship -- a very, very good point in Shakespeare's favor -- that a favorite Oxfordian strategy is to take uses of the word "ever" as a reference to E[dward de] Ver[e], as if this were proof of authorship. Of course they jump on things in the sonnets like "Every word doth almost tell my name." But that's not This strategy actually tells quite a different tale, if you look at the evidence, and I thought it would be well-suited to a post of its own.
Behold the portrait of Edward de Vere that emerges from lines in Shakespeare's plays...
"Wilt thou, E. Ver, be a foul-mouthed and calumnious knave?" (All's Well That Ends Well, TLN 376)
"Thus he his special nothing E. Ver prologues." (All's Well, TLN 696)
"You have been a boggler, E. Ver..." (Antony and Cleopatra, TLN 2388)
"Thou wast, E. Ver, an obstinate heretic in the despite of beauty." (Much Ado About Nothing, TLN 210)
"Who, E. Ver, yet could sound thy bottom?" (Cymbeline, TLN 2585) No doubt a reference to the story of Oxford's embarrassing himself in front of the queen with his flatulence, or alternately his sex life, or, in characteristically Shakespearean fashion, both.
Support for the latter interpretation, however, is provided by Hamlet, which perhaps reveals the reason for Shakespeare's animosity: "I lov'd you, E. Ver. But it is no matter." (Hamlet, TLN 3634)
Occasionally, Shakespeare engages in self-loathing over the breakup: "I am the veriest varlet that E. Ver chewed with a tooth." (1 Henry IV, TLN 750). And shortly thereafter, "O, we are undone, both we and ours for E. Ver!" (1H4, TLN 826)
Other times he pleads rather bawdily to get the relationship going again: "For E. Ver may my knees grow to the earth..." (Richard II TLN 2606)
And sometimes he engages in nasty political accusations:
"Treason and murder E. Ver kept together
As two yoke-devils sworn to either's purpose,
Working so grossly in a natural cause,
That admiration did not whoop at them..." (Henry V TLN 741-44)
Late in his career Shakespeare comments wryly on his relationship with the by-then-deceased Earl: "I'll do any thing now that is virtuous; but I am out of the road of rutting for E. Ver." (Pericles TLN 1943)
Hey, I think it's pretty convincing. Maybe I should write a book.
If you guys want to play, go here, and be sure to select "exact keyword..." ;)
Behold the portrait of Edward de Vere that emerges from lines in Shakespeare's plays...
"Wilt thou, E. Ver, be a foul-mouthed and calumnious knave?" (All's Well That Ends Well, TLN 376)
"Thus he his special nothing E. Ver prologues." (All's Well, TLN 696)
"You have been a boggler, E. Ver..." (Antony and Cleopatra, TLN 2388)
"Thou wast, E. Ver, an obstinate heretic in the despite of beauty." (Much Ado About Nothing, TLN 210)
"Who, E. Ver, yet could sound thy bottom?" (Cymbeline, TLN 2585) No doubt a reference to the story of Oxford's embarrassing himself in front of the queen with his flatulence, or alternately his sex life, or, in characteristically Shakespearean fashion, both.
Support for the latter interpretation, however, is provided by Hamlet, which perhaps reveals the reason for Shakespeare's animosity: "I lov'd you, E. Ver. But it is no matter." (Hamlet, TLN 3634)
Occasionally, Shakespeare engages in self-loathing over the breakup: "I am the veriest varlet that E. Ver chewed with a tooth." (1 Henry IV, TLN 750). And shortly thereafter, "O, we are undone, both we and ours for E. Ver!" (1H4, TLN 826)
Other times he pleads rather bawdily to get the relationship going again: "For E. Ver may my knees grow to the earth..." (Richard II TLN 2606)
And sometimes he engages in nasty political accusations:
"Treason and murder E. Ver kept together
As two yoke-devils sworn to either's purpose,
Working so grossly in a natural cause,
That admiration did not whoop at them..." (Henry V TLN 741-44)
Late in his career Shakespeare comments wryly on his relationship with the by-then-deceased Earl: "I'll do any thing now that is virtuous; but I am out of the road of rutting for E. Ver." (Pericles TLN 1943)
Hey, I think it's pretty convincing. Maybe I should write a book.
If you guys want to play, go here, and be sure to select "exact keyword..." ;)