If today we pronounce the name of Shakespeare, then in the minds of each of us the name of at least one of his works will involuntarily pop up. But it's not that simple. It turns out that it is still unknown: did a man named William Shakespeare actually write anything other than private letters and business papers?
The American journalist and millionaire Calvin Hoffman, who had been dealing with this issue for many years, was so sure that all Shakespeare's works were written by Christopher Marlowe (except for him on the list of applicants - Francis Bacon, Earl of Oxford and 60 more candidates) that he bequeathed £ 10,000 to who in his article will give at least some evidence of Marlowe's authorship, and to those who prove that all Shakespeare's works came from the pen of Marlowe - 1 million pounds!
Among skeptical people, we find such famous names as Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Galsworthy, Bernard Shaw, Sigmund Freud, Charles Chaplin, Vladimir Nabokov, James Joyce, Henry James and Daphne Du Maurier and many others …
So what confused historians, writers and researchers in Shakespeare's biography? But what …
“Shakespeare began his theater career as a watchman, then as an actor, theater producer, who made a fortune from his activities, later becoming a usurer, brewer and homeowner (landlord).
However, it was not possible to find a single lifetime evidence that he was the author. There is not a single manuscript or letter written in Shakespeare's hand, and not a single record of his receipt of any literary royalties.
The letters addressed to Shakespeare were more fortunate. One of them was found. But it has nothing to do with literature - it was written not to the author, but to the usurer, and contains a request to borrow money.
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Of the entire manuscript heritage of Shakespeare, only 7 signatures remained, written in an unusually rough and awkward handwriting. Two of them are similar, the rest are very different from each other. It seems that the great poet had a hard time writing his own name.
Another mystery - where and when did Shakespeare receive his phenomenal and versatile knowledge? How did he manage to study ancient philosophy, medicine, jurisprudence, navigation, history, the intricacies of international diplomacy and several foreign languages - Latin, Greek, French, Italian, Spanish?
It is known that Shakespeare never attended university. It is unknown if he attended school. However, not only his parents, but also both daughters were illiterate. It is amazing: the great humanist, who ardently advocates the education of women in his works, did not teach his daughters to read and write! And in the will, which scrupulously lists all household items, down to spoons and forks, he left not a penny either for the education of his beloved granddaughter or his own school - if, of course, he studied there. None of the teachers ever mentioned his brilliant student, and none of his contemporaries - about his great classmate.
It seems that Shakespeare's poetic gift remained a secret even for his relatives - neither his daughters nor his son-in-law knew about him, who, unlike his wife, was an educated man and a doctor. The only entry in his diary, made the day after Shakespeare's death, reads: "My father-in-law has passed away."
In London, Shakespeare's death went as unnoticed as in Stratford. While other, much less talented poets and playwrights, were buried with honors and praises in Westminster Abbey, crowds of students accompanied them on their last journey, and noble patrons wore mourning and generously paid for the funeral, no one responded to Shakespeare's death with a single word. London writers did not come to say goodbye to him and see him off on his last journey. The Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare dedicated his creations, did not wear mourning. It seems that he did not even notice the death of the one whose patron he was during his lifetime …
Perhaps, among the admirers of the great bard, a new Schliemann will appear and reveal to the world the true name and appearance of the genius - writes Alina Daniel in her research.
By the way, about the look. And then Shakespeare made scientists break their heads. What did the still great playwright and poet look like? Only in the middle of the 19th century. in Darmstadt, his death mask was found, and only modern technologies of the 21st century. allowed to "revive" Shakespeare's face - British scientists created his three-dimensional portrait.
But there was also a slight misunderstanding with Shakespeare's portraits. So a portrait by an unknown artist for 300 years, which belonged to the Cobb family, whose representatives believed that it, perhaps, depicted the poet and navigator Sir Walter Raleigh, has adorned the family collection for a long time. Several years ago, the current owner of the portrait, Alex Cobb, noticed a resemblance to famous Shakespeare paintings. Further research by Cobb and the literary critic Stanley Wells showed that the painting is the original portrait of Shakespeare, from which some other images of the poet were copied.
Not a man, but one continuous mystery. But all the riddles find their correct answers sometime. Let's wait.