In this blog post, we’ll take a close look at Shakespeare’s childhood, education, move to London, and inner world as revealed through church and government records, accounts from his contemporaries, legends, and—above all—his works.

Shakespeare’s Life

The life of Shakespeare as we know it aligns with his literary world. His genius, rooted in a realistic mindset, soars to a level far higher than romantic fantasy.
Whether viewed as a figure of the early Elizabethan era or in light of the low social status of playwrights at the time, Shakespeare has left behind a surprisingly rich body of biographical material. This material can be divided into three categories: first, records preserved in churches, government offices, and the royal court; second, accounts by contemporaries mentioning Shakespeare; and third, legends that have been passed down to the present day.
Above all, however, his works themselves constitute the most important source material. This does not mean, as is often the case with other writers, that his works contain autobiographical elements, but rather that they best reveal Shakespeare’s spirit—or his inner self—which flows consistently throughout his entire body of work.

Early Life

William Shakespeare was baptized on April 26, 1564, at the church in Stratford-upon-Avon. Based on the circumstances surrounding his baptism, his date of birth is believed to have been the 23rd. Coincidentally, the date of his death was also April 23, 1616.
His father, John Shakespeare, moved to the area from another town and became wealthy by running a general store, a tavern, and a wool business. He also held positions of social standing, having served as the town’s treasurer and mayor. A man of both wealth and social standing, John Shakespeare had eight children, of whom William Shakespeare was the third.
It is believed that he did not complete his education at the local grammar school, having dropped out in the fifth year. It is thought that the reason Shakespeare did not even finish grammar school was due to his family’s financial difficulties. The poet Ben Jonson later described Shakespeare as “a man who knew only a little Latin and almost no Greek.”
However, Shakespeare possessed a sharp and agile mind that allowed him to read Latin classics fluently, building on the Latin he had learned at grammar school. He had an extraordinary mind that stored everything he read systematically in his memory and could retrieve the knowledge gained from his reading at any time, just as a silkworm spins silk, whenever it was needed.
It is said that Shakespeare’s father, John, used a clover leaf as his signature during his time as a mayor. While some scholars attribute this to his lack of formal education, his career was, in any case, dramatic in many ways. There is a theory that the decline of his family was due to the turbulent political situation in the country at the time.
John was a devout Catholic, but when Henry VIII established the Church of England and carried out the Reformation, Catholics inevitably suffered a blow. Perhaps spurred by his family’s decline, Shakespeare may have moved to London in search of a better future. For this reason, a debate naturally arose regarding Shakespeare’s personal faith—whether he was Catholic, Protestant, or an atheist—in relation to his parents’ beliefs.
This region was home to a significant number of students who had gone on to university, as well as university-educated intellectuals. There is a view that after dropping out of grammar school, Shakespeare took a job as a clerk at a lawyer’s office. Shakespeare, being quick-witted, likely devoured legal texts voraciously during his time as a clerk.
With his keen powers of observation and precise judgment, he may have discerned the absurdities of man-made laws. The world of power struggles that would later unfold in his historical plays and tragedies may have already been faintly taking shape in his mind around this time. The scene in ‘Henry VI’, Part 2, where Jack Cade’s mob shouts, “Kill the lawyers!” brings to mind this very origin.
Although the library of this small town could hardly have satisfied Shakespeare’s voracious appetite for reading, he would still have had access to Latin classics such as the Bible, Holinshed’s ‘Chronicles’, and ‘Ovid’.

Married Life

On November 28, 1582, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, the daughter of a well-to-do farmer in the village of Shottery, located about a mile west of Stratford. At the time, he was eighteen years old, while his bride, eight years his senior, was twenty-six.
Five months after their marriage, on May 23, 1583, their eldest daughter, Susanna, was born, and in February 1585, twins were born: their eldest son, Hamnet, and their second daughter, Judith. Records of Shakespeare’s married life come to an end here for the time being.
Although there is much debate surrounding Shakespeare’s marriage, the couple’s married life appears to have been more natural than unnatural. While relationships between a young man and an older woman often end in unhappiness, this marriage was a lasting one.
Perhaps the kind of love that vanishes in the blink of an eye—like the spark between young lovers or a shooting star, as in the case of Romeo and Juliet—is actually the unnatural one. The love of Romeo and Juliet may be the paradox of Shakespeare and Anne’s realistic love.
It is often said that men harbor a deep-seated, eternal longing for motherhood in their subconscious. This was likely true of Hamlet. Shakespeare, an artistic genius, demonstrated that he was exceptionally intense in this instinct as well. While some scholars argue that Shakespeare’s married life was unhappy, this was not necessarily the case.
Later, in 1592, Robert Greene, the leading playwright of the time, was dying in poverty in a boarding house when he sent a letter to a colleague containing the following passage: “A young crow, dressed in our feathers, has risen to sudden fame and deludes himself into thinking he can write verse as well as any of you. Not only that, but the fellow is daydreaming as if he alone were shaking the world.”
The phrase “shaking the world,” used in this passage, is interpreted as a satire related to Shakespeare’s name. While this text offers a glimpse of the early Shakespeare—who suddenly appeared in London like a comet and began to dominate the theater world—it also reveals that he was received with hostility in London.
So, after the records from his hometown ceased, where exactly did he spend the approximately seven years leading up to the publication of Greene’s letter, and what was he doing? Various legends and speculations have been passed down regarding this period. These include the story that he was punished for poaching in the woods of Lord Lucy, a nobleman in Stratford, and was banished after composing satirical verses about Lord Lucy; the theory that he briefly worked as a private tutor in the home of a nobleman in a neighboring village; and the theory that he traveled to London with a traveling theater troupe that had come to the area.

Early Career

Having set foot in the London theater world, Shakespeare first found employment with a troupe belonging to the Earl of Leicester, where he initially served as a stable boy, tending to the horses brought by the audience. The brilliant lines spoken by the night watchman in ‘Macbeth’ may well have been inspired by his experiences during this time.
However, although his official title was stable boy, he occasionally had the opportunity to participate in the plays as a member of the troupe. He made good use of these opportunities, and his talent was recognized, leading to his promotion as an actor. However, it seems Shakespeare was not particularly outstanding as an actor. It is said that even later in his career, he appeared only in minor roles, such as the Ghost in ‘Hamlet’ or Old Adam in ‘As You Like It’.
Shakespeare became the company’s resident playwright. At the time, being a company playwright generally involved adapting popular works by others. Although this was a form of plagiarism, it was common practice at the time because copyright protection did not exist.
After moving to London, Shakespeare joined the Earl of Leicester’s troupe and soon went on to work with the Baron Strange’s troupe, the Lord Chamberlain’s troupe, and the King’s troupe. These troupes were based primarily at “The Theatre,” which was established in 1576, but the troupe to which Shakespeare belonged began performing at the Globe Theatre, built on the south bank of the River Thames, starting in 1599.
Contrary to Green’s unfavorable account from 1592, in 1598 a young scholar named Francis Meers wrote in a pamphlet titled ‘A Treasury of Knowledge’ that he had seen several of Shakespeare’s plays and praised them highly. The plays he listed as having seen included ‘The Two Gentlemen of Verona’, ‘The Comedy of Errors’, ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, ‘The Merchant of Venice’, ‘Richard II’, ‘Richard III’, ‘Henry IV’, ‘King John’, ‘Titus Andronicus’, and ‘Romeo and Juliet’.
Based on this record, it is clear that Shakespeare had already dabbled in historical plays, comedies, and tragedies in his early career.

Early History Plays and Tragedies

His first history plays—’Henry VI’, Parts 1, 2, and 3 (1590–1592), and ‘Richard III’ (1592–1593)— These four historical plays form a cohesive system, exploring external themes such as national turmoil and instability stemming from the conflict between the nobility vying for the throne—a clash between order and chaos—as well as the transience of power and the principle of karma.
The sole tragedy of this period, ‘Titus Andronicus’ (1593–1594), demonstrates that even within the genre of bloody revenge tragedies popular at the time, it surpasses the “Spanish tragedies” of earlier playwrights such as Thomas Kyd.

The Beginnings of Comedy, Long Lyric Poems, and Sonnets

During this formative period, Shakespeare also began to demonstrate his skill in comedy. These include the ≪Comedies of Errors≫ (1592–1593), ≪The Taming of the Shrew≫ (1593–1594), ≪The Two Gentlemen of Verona≫ (1594–1595), and ≪Love’s Labour’s Lost≫ (1594–1595).
These early comedies explore the real world and the romantic world in succession. These two worlds developed alternately until they were fully fused with the advent of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ (1595–1596) in the next period, giving rise to a new genre of comedy known as the “romantic comedy” of the second period.
Around this time, he also dedicated his long narrative poems ‘Venus and Adonis’ (published in 1593) and ‘The Rape of Lucrece’ (published in 1594) to the Earl of Southampton, a young and influential nobleman with whom he had already become close friends. His ‘Sonnets’ also appear to have been written around this time.
His early works were influenced by Marlowe, who was his contemporary. However, with the creation of his comedies, he had already transcended Marlowe’s realm. Shakespeare, who possessed the heart of all people, did not limit himself to depicting the rise and fall of noble spirits, nor did he pursue only dark solitude or tragedy. He also focused on the joyful aspects of life. His early comedies are evidence that he had already turned his attention to the bright and joyful sides of life.

The Late Formative Period and Rival Playwrights

Toward the end of Shakespeare’s formative period, the playwrights of the “University School”—his senior colleagues and rivals—met tragic fates: some, like Green (1592) and Kid (1594), died miserably in poverty; others, like Marlow (1593), were assassinated in political intrigues; and the rest of the University School also left the theater world under tragic circumstances.
Although only seven or eight members of the University School are remembered in literary history today, it appears that there were actually around twenty active members at the time. They were all rival playwrights who harbored no goodwill toward Shakespeare. This is because Shakespeare used the number “20” as an image representing a very large number or quantity; this image of the number 20 appears as many as 150 times throughout his entire body of work. Such imagery may have stemmed from the fact that his 20 rival playwrights were regarded as an infinitely large number.

Development: The Maturation of Historical Drama and the Fusion of Romantic Comedy

As Shakespeare entered his second period, he turned his hand to tragedy, which had been his long-standing obsession. This is exemplified by ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (1594–1595), which centers on love, his greatest interest. However, this play did not yet fully realize his potential in character creation; despite its beautiful lyricism, it remains merely a tragedy of fate. This period also marked the consolidation of his historical drama style and the maturation of his romantic comedies.
Alongside this fruitful creative output, the world around him was also in a state of flux. According to records, epidemics raged in London almost every summer during that time. London at the time was a city with a population of around 200,000, and it is said that when such a plague struck, it was so devastating that one-tenth of the population would perish.
When a plague raged, theaters—which were already considered hotbeds of crime—were closed, and theater companies set out on provincial tours. We can see an example of such a provincial touring troupe in ‘Hamlet’. Since the troupe to which Shakespeare belonged was relatively large, it is thought that Shakespeare, as their resident playwright, did not accompany them on their provincial tour but instead returned to his hometown to escape the plague.
As noted earlier, Shakespeare established the framework for historical plays and perfected the romantic comedy during his second phase, which marked his creative peak. ‘Richard II’ (1595–1596), ‘Henry IV’, Parts 1 and 2 (1597–1598), and ‘Henry V’ (1598–1599)—these four historical plays constitute Shakespeare’s so-called “Second Group” of historical plays, and like the “First Group,” they depict the conflict between order and disorder. They are seen as the root cause of the shameful history of the Wars of the Roses depicted in the First Group of historical plays.
Richard II, lacking the qualities of a monarch, is deposed by his cousin Henry Bolingbroke, a schemer and opportunist. Henry Bolingbroke seizes the throne and becomes Henry IV.
Henry IV spent his entire life tormented by guilt over his illegitimate seizure of the throne, and civil strife continued unabated. His son, Henry V, quelled the civil war and marched into France, restoring the nation’s prestige with a resounding victory at Agincourt. However, he died young. His son, Henry VI, ascended the throne as a newborn still in diapers. During the reign of Henry VI, the Wars of the Roses erupted, turning the nation into a chaotic battlefield, and for over thirty years, the people suffered the torments of hell.
This perception of chaos and confusion is rooted in the idea of karma—that it stemmed from Henry IV’s unlawful usurpation of Richard II’s rightful throne, as depicted in the second group of historical plays. Through both the first and second groups of historical plays, Shakespeare demonstrates a deep awareness of the existence of eternal order and peace underlying the chaos.
We know Shakespeare as the standard-bearer of the Renaissance romantic spirit. Yet, as his historical plays demonstrate, he also held the traditional medieval concept of order deep within his psyche. This, too, can be described as his dual image or duality. ‘King John’ (1596), written during this period, is an isolated historical play that stands apart from the larger system of the eight historical plays.
During this period, a flood of romantic comedies emerged that fully fused the world of dreams with reality; the first of these, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, was clearly produced for a nobleman’s wedding celebration. There are scattered records indicating that Shakespeare’s plays were performed by his theater company in the presence of Queen Elizabeth or King James I. Passages praising the queen appear throughout Shakespeare’s works, and plays such as ‘Macbeth’ appear to have been written for King James I.
The romantic comedy ‘The Merchant of Venice’ (1596–1597) that followed is one of his most famous plays, likely due to the creation of the character Shylock, the Jewish moneylender who appears in it. Whatever the original intent, Shylock ultimately became a tragic figure, effectively turning the romantic comedy into a tragedy. Therefore, although this play is famous, it can be described as a failed romantic comedy. Portia’s speech on mercy in the trial scene is also a famous line, but it, too, reeks of Christian hypocrisy.
≪Much Ado About Nothing≫ (1598–1599) is a play centered on plots and intrigues, which is quite out of place for a romantic comedy. These plots are of the same nature as those in the tragedy ‘Othello’. However, the fact that this play does not end in tragedy but concludes with a happy ending can be attributed to the fact that an inner storm had not yet raged within the author, and the spirit of reason and common sense still dominated his mind.
‘As You Like It’ (1599–1600) is an idyllic pastoral play. Yet lurking beneath that pastoral façade is fratricide. ‘Twelfth Night’ (1599–1600) is a delicate romantic comedy, yet it contains merciless satire directed at the Puritans and the authorities. Thus, beneath the joyful and cheerful exterior of all the romantic comedies mentioned above, each harbors tragic underlying issues.
In this way, Shakespeare never forgot sorrow even amidst joy; even when swearing sweet vows of love, he could not help but hear the sound of time’s cruel scythe striking down that love. His dual imagery grows increasingly profound. In particular, his awareness of the disparity between appearance and reality grows ever more acute.
As his insight and understanding deepened and his technical skill became more refined, he began to grapple in earnest with the problems of tragedy. Around the time he entered his tragic period, he produced ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’ (1600–1601), a play somewhat distinct from his romantic comedies. It is said that this play was written in response to a request from Queen Elizabeth I, who had been impressed by the comedic nature of Falstaff—a modern character who had previously appeared in ‘Henry IV’—and asked to see a comedy in which Falstaff was in love. However, the Falstaff in this play has already lost the vitality of his former self.

Shakespeare’s Tragic Period and Its Political Context

Shakespeare’s tragic period begins with ≪Julius Caesar≫ (1599). Brutus, driven by lofty ideals, overthrows Caesar to prevent Rome from becoming a dictatorship, but the play demonstrates that in the ruthless world of politics, idealism is inevitably defeated by reality. While Shakespeare’s internal motivations for writing tragedies have been mentioned earlier, some scholars seek to attribute those motivations to external events.
One such external motivation cited is the downfall of the Earl of Essex (1601). The Earl of Essex was once a symbol of power at Queen Elizabeth’s court and enjoyed the Queen’s deep favor; he was even mentioned as a potential husband for the Queen and was close friends with Shakespeare’s patron, the Earl of Southampton. However, he incurred the Queen’s wrath due to his failure to suppress the Irish rebellion and a scandal involving one of her ladies-in-waiting.
Essex, comparing himself to Henry Bolingbroke—who had overthrown Richard II—resolved to stage a coup. On the night before the uprising, he had Shakespeare’s troupe perform ‘Richard II’ at the Globe Theatre. The next day, he led his men into London, expecting the citizens to rally behind him, but they remained indifferent, and the uprising ended in failure. He was subsequently sentenced to death, and the influence of his powerful political rival, Robert Cecil, also contributed to his downfall. Following Essex’s execution, the Earl of Southampton—his friend and Shakespeare’s patron—was also deposed.
Although Shakespeare’s theater company faced reprimands from the authorities due to the performance of ‘Richard II’ on the night before the coup, they managed to avoid serious repercussions. It is worth considering what impression the sudden downfall of a powerful figure must have made on Shakespeare. Moreover, the fact that the central figure in this downfall was a close acquaintance of his would have added to the shock. The Earl of Essex’s rebellion took place in 1601, when Shakespeare was thirty-seven years old.
At that time, coups and conspiracies, both large and small, were a constant occurrence. The plot by the Jewish physician Lopez to assassinate the queen is alluded to in the character of Shylock in ‘The Merchant of Venice’, and the Parliamentary Plot is mentioned in the lines spoken by the gatekeepers in ‘Macbeth’. In this way, Shakespeare’s works are peppered with reflections of the current events and customs of his era.
Today’s historical criticism is thoroughly elucidating these issues. Queen Elizabeth was a great leader who could unite her people, and while it is true that England flourished during this era, there were growing pains—such as religious issues, foreign affairs, and the question of the queen’s succession—that led to a succession of treason cases, both major and minor. This made firm stability all the more necessary, and to maintain her rule, the queen had no choice but to carry out ruthless purges, as in the case of Essex.
Countless high-ranking officials were sent to the gallows on charges of treason during that time. In ‘Macbeth’, there is a line where, after assassinating King Duncan, the killer looks at his blood-stained hands and says, “These hands—these hands of a madman.” At the time, it was customary to mutilate corpses after execution; it is even said that one executioner, upon cutting out a heart, felt as though it were still writhing in agony. As executions of traitors were frequent, such gruesome scenes were commonplace, and the heads of traitors were sometimes displayed atop the Tower of London. These deaths had a profound psychological impact on Shakespeare, and some scholars view them as an external motivation for his tragic period.
His tragic period includes three “dark comedies.” These are ‘Troilus and Cressida’, ‘All’s Well That Ends Well’, and ‘Measure for Measure’. Unlike his early light-hearted comedies or the romantic comedies of his second period, these plays have a dark tone, and recent scholars refer to them as “problem plays.”
≪Troilus and Cressida≫ (1601–1602) centers on the themes of betrayal and chaos. Since the play leaves the resolution of its problems unresolved and ends on a bitter note, it is a comedy in name only. Furthermore, this work reflects the clash between old and new ideas that was swirling through British society at the time. ≪All’s Well That Ends Well≫ (1602–1603) ends with a happy ending, as the title suggests, but has an overall bittersweet tone; it is a comedy in which schemes are employed in the name of love. ≪Measure for Measure≫ (1604–1605) is a work steeped in the stench of corruption and hypocrisy; all three of these plays are written from a tragic perspective, with only the endings resolved in a comic manner.
Shakespeare’s historical tragedies feature great figures such as kings, queens, and nobles. In these tragedies, internal conflicts stemming from the protagonists’ character flaws play a significant role; such character-driven tragedies exist on a different level from ‘Romeo and Juliet’ or classical tragedies of fate. The themes are treated with dignity through the image of the monarch, and the work is underpinned by the grand premise of the destruction and restoration of the state and social order. The dual imagery, which offers deep insight into both substance and appearance, renders the work multidimensional and dynamic.
‘Hamlet’ (1600–1601) is, of course, a very famous play. The protagonist of this work shares certain similarities with the Earl of Essex mentioned earlier. The duality of human nature—reason and emotion, delusion and action, angels and demons, judgment and bloody vengeance—is revealed from multiple angles through the author’s dual imagery. ‘Othello’ (1604) is a unique work among the “tragedies of contrast” in terms of its setting; the fates of the protagonists are not directly linked to those of the state or society, and it deals with faith, jealousy, and conspiracy as a domestic tragedy.
‘King Lear’ (1605) is a monumental tragedy centered on bewilderment, betrayal, and rage. ‘Macbeth’ (1606) is a tragedy that depicts, like a nightmare, the psychological torment endured by the regicide—the one who killed the king. Even among villains, Richard III—unlike Macbeth—does not suffer deep psychological torment; he simply commits his evil deeds and dies in despair, whereas Macbeth dies in despair until the very end and fails to attain salvation for his soul. It is difficult to imagine a more tragic ending than this.
‘Antony and Cleopatra’ (1606–1607) and ‘Coriolanus’ (1607) are historical plays set against the backdrop of Roman history, along with ‘Julius Caesar’. ≪Antony and Cleopatra≫ is a grand tragedy in which transcendent humanism unfolds on an almost cosmic scale, while ≪Coriolanus≫ depicts the tragedy of a giant whose patriotism is either fragile or hypocritical, and reveals the terrifying power of the mob. ‘Timon of Athens’ (1607–1608) is a work in which the protagonist’s misanthropy and reactions are portrayed with such cynicism that it appears to be a twin to ‘King Lear’.
On June 5, 1607, Shakespeare returned to his hometown. His eldest daughter, Susanna, had married the capable physician John Hall, and on February 7, 1608, he witnessed the birth of his granddaughter, Elizabeth. Around this time, tastes in English theater were shifting from open-air venues to indoor theaters, and Shakespeare’s troupe was already performing at the indoor Blackfriars Theater for a select audience of nobles and the upper classes—even during the winter, at night, or when it rained.

Later Years and Retirement

Shakespeare’s later years were a period in which he settled on the romance genre, or romantic plays. Romantic plays were in vogue at the time, and his works in this genre repeatedly explore themes that begin with the separation of family members due to intrigue and betrayal and culminate in reunion, forgiveness, and reconciliation. ‘Pericles’ (1608–1609), ‘Cymbeline’ (1609–1610), and ‘The Winter’s Tale’ (1610–1611) are all works that emphasize family reunions and forgiveness.
In ≪The Tempest≫ (1611–1612), his final romantic play, the scene where the protagonist casts his magic staff into the sea and returns home evokes the image of the playwright himself laying down his pen and returning home. While some symbolic interpretations suggest that Shakespeare’s shift from tragedy to romantic drama signified his conversion to Protestantism, the anguish and absurdity of his earlier tragic period certainly subsided, and themes of divine grace and tolerance came to the fore.
Regarding the last historical play, ‘Henry VIII’ (1612–1613), the theory that it was a collaboration is widely accepted. From his youth, Shakespeare possessed sound and pragmatic financial sense and maintained a frugal lifestyle. He had a gentle disposition and practiced what he preached; by the time of his retirement, he enjoyed a relatively prosperous life in his hometown. It appears he occasionally visited London even after his retirement.
After retiring, Shakespeare attended a banquet and drinking party in Stratford with several friends to celebrate Ben Jonson becoming England’s first Poet Laureate; following this, he fell ill and died at the age of 52. His date of death was April 23, 1616, and his remains are buried alongside his family in the innermost part of Holy Trinity Church in his hometown.

The Authorship Debate and Major Alternative Theories

The biographical records of Shakespeare are surprisingly extensive, given the social status of writers at the time. While the orthodox view does not doubt the existence of Shakespeare, the playwright from Stratford, some media outlets and proponents have put forward various alternative theories regarding his life. To clear up any misunderstandings among readers, we will briefly introduce the content of these alternative theories.
One theory traces its origins to a line of dialogue in a farce from 1759. The dialogue includes such absurd expressions as, “The author of Shakespeare is Ben Jonson,” “No, it’s Finis. Isn’t that what’s written at the very end of his collected works?” About a century after this dialogue appeared, the claim that Francis Bacon was the true author began to be seriously advanced.
These theories are based on a common doubt: namely, whether a single person could truly have achieved such vast poetic and philosophical accomplishments as Shakespeare did. Even if it were possible, such a person would have to be erudite, influential, well-traveled, and fluent in foreign languages—yet there is no evidence that an actor from Stratford possessed these qualifications.
Even mainstream scholars acknowledge that the public, private, external, and internal records that remain of Shakespeare are relatively scarce for such a great writer. Consequently, some people have held the preconception that “an ordinary person could not have written such masterpieces,” leading them to infer that the author must have had a different, special identity. Another premise underlying this is the assumption that the author, for whatever reason, could not have openly revealed his name.
The Francis Bacon theory holds that he met all the necessary criteria at the time. It has been argued that Bacon was sufficiently qualified in terms of knowledge, power, and experience, and was also proficient in cryptography; therefore, codes indicating his authorship are hidden throughout the works. For example, some have interpreted the strange word “honorificabilitudinitatibus,” which appears in Act 5, Scene 1 of ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’, as a Latin cipher signifying Bacon.
Furthermore, some proponents believe that even those Shakespearean plays for which authorship is certain may have involved adaptation or co-authorship, and they propose a collective authorship theory centered on Bacon, Walter Raleigh, or the Earl of Oxford. From this perspective, it is considered possible that Shakespeare of Stratford played a role such as editing, proofreading, or assisting with the writing.
Regarding marriage records, the Worcester parish records contain an entry for “Wm Shakspere and Anna Whateley” on November 27, 1582, followed by an entry for “Willm Shakspere to Anne Hathaway” on the next date; orthodox scholars view “Whateley” as a misspelling of “Hathaway.” However, in 1939 and 1950, respectively, two different Scottish scholars proposed the theory that Miss Whittley was Shakespeare’s lover and, having been displaced by Anne Hathaway, became a nun; they suggested that the two collaborated on plays through a spiritual bond.
The Marlowe theory is based on the premise that even orthodox scholars acknowledge Marlowe was born in the same year as Shakespeare and influenced him. American journalist Calvin Hoffman argued that Marlowe was not actually executed, but that his patron, Sir Thomas Walsingham, staged his death and helped him flee to Europe. Hoffman believed that Marlowe may have secretly returned to England, hidden at Lord Walsingham’s residence, and published his works under the name “Shakespeare.” It is said that he attempted to excavate Lord Walsingham’s grave, but the expected manuscripts were not found, and the excavation was halted.
The Earl of Oxford theory is based on the similarity of names, noting that the coat of arms of the Edward Beer family features a lion brandishing a spear, and that his nickname was “speare shaker.” The Earl of Oxford is known to have been Shakespeare’s patron, and this interpretation suggests that, due to circumstances involving the court, Shakespeare may have used a pseudonym for his works or borrowed the name of an actor from Stratford.
In addition, various questions have been raised, such as the theory that a moneylender in Stratford required playwrights to use his name in exchange for financial support, or the identities of “Mr. W. H.” in the sonnet collection, as well as the “Dark-Haired Beauty” and the “Fair Youth.” Due to the highly personal nature of the sonnets, this issue remains a subject of debate even among orthodox scholars.
Supporters of the Marlowe theory have linked the “Fair Youth” to contemporary homosexual practices, citing Marlowe’s homosexuality as evidence that he authored Shakespeare’s sonnets, and have even claimed that “Mr. W. H.” is an abbreviation for Wolsingham. Thus, even when examining the same evidence, various theories lead to bizarre conclusions.
Nevertheless, most mainstream scholars today harbor not the slightest doubt regarding the historical existence of William Shakespeare of Stratford.

Work Commentary: “Twelfth Night”

“Twelfth Night” is generally classified as a work produced between 1599 and 1600, though some sources suggest it, like other plays, may have originated in Vandello’s collection of novellas. The first printed edition of this play appears in the second section of the 1623 edition. The title “Twelfth Night” refers to the night of January 6—the twelfth day after Christmas, or the eve of Epiphany—a night traditionally marked by grand feasts and celebrations.
It is traditionally believed that this play was originally written to be staged as entertainment at a banquet in 1601 for the Duke of Osino, who had been dispatched by the Medici family, an Italian noble house, to attend a feast hosted by Queen Elizabeth I.
In this single work, Shakespeare skillfully condensed and fused events, characters, and scenes considered effective in comedy, thereby showcasing the essence of the romantic comedy. The confusion arising from the twins (Viola and Sebastian) carries on the tradition of the comedy of errors, while the friendship between men overlaps with elements seen in ‘The Merchant of Venice’. In particular, the device of a woman successfully disguising herself as a man is close to the definitive example in this genre.
In the play, Olivia appears dressed in black mourning clothes, deeply grieving her brother’s death. Melancholic love songs flow across the stage, and this romantic comedy is regarded as possessing an almost flawless sense of balance. Since Shakespeare portrays loyalty as a great virtue and betrayal as a great vice, Olivia’s excessive grief is by no means a shallow pretense.
It is only natural that Olivia rejects Duke Orsino’s proposal, and her falling in love with Viola (as Cesario), disguised as a man, is little more than a momentary whim. In her heart lies Sebastian, Viola’s twin, whose true identity she does not yet know.
It is also noteworthy that Olivia is the only one who shows a modicum of sympathy for Malvolio, whom everyone else mocks. Malvolio is a character who embodies Puritan selfishness, and Shakespeare observed him from various angles to portray him as a living, breathing character. That is why, even as Malvolio is humiliated, the audience can feel sympathy for him.
Shakespeare created tension and conflict in the play by blending the realistic character of Malvolio into a dreamlike and tangled world. The crisis seems at one point as if it will never be resolved, but as the play moves toward its conclusion, the knot is naturally untangled.
While this play expresses the affirmation and celebration of life to the utmost, it paradoxically evokes a sense of melancholy amidst its excessive joy. This can be interpreted as a sort of finale left by the romantic comedy as Shakespeare moved on to confront serious tragedy.