© Bibi Baxter, England 2007

WHODUNNIT?  THE WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE MYSTERY

© Bibi Baxter - 4th January 2007

• Questions:  What do you think? (please scroll to next box)
• Pedagogic Suggestions
• Debate, or discussion
• Internet Tasks
• Composition

RELATED PAGES

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• More about Shakespeare

QUESTIONS & SUGGESTIONS

• Did ‘William Shakespeare’, write all the plays attributed to him?  A theory has been put forward to say the plays were written by famous writers of that period.
• Plays by Shakespeare are studied by academic students and enjoyed mostly by intellectuals.  These plays seem to have been created for the sophisticated and educated members of society – not for the ‘masses’.
• Was ‘William Shakespeare’ a pseudonym?  The word ‘Shakespeare’ could be translated as ‘sabre-rattling’.
• Shakespearean plays and prose were all about bawdy behaviour, murder, intrigue, cuckolding, etc.  These days, satire and risqué material is considered acceptable (e.g. ‘Not The Nine o’Clock News’, ‘Spitting Image’, ‘The Life of Bryan’, ‘Monty Python’s Flying Circus’), but in those days, adventurous writers would most likely have been vilified.  Were famous writers reluctant to lay claim to controversial works, because in their social circles, decorum was extremely important and they dare not risk being discredited?
• If other writers did produce the works of Shakespeare, could they have written the works in ‘olde English’......
• ….because it was the fashion of the time to ridicule the ‘unsophisticated’ members of their society, who could only communicate in that form of English?  In much the same way as we ridicule, or mimic, accents and other regional differences
• ….to disguise their writing style, so the works could not be traced to them?

PEDAGOGIC SUGGESTIONS

• Debate, or discussion
• Internet Tasks:
• Can you find other people on the net with the surname: Shakespeare?  If he existed, he must have had relatives and a birth record.  Email any people you find and ask if they are relatives of Shakespeare
• Find out the names of writers who were famous when Shakespeare was purported to have written his works.
• Find examples (paragraphs), which show differing styles, then match them with other writers’ work and style.
• Composition:  Try writing two short pieces of work, one in the style of Shakespeare and one in the style of another famous writer
• Fun names:  Look in the telephone directory for names, or try making up names, which could have a hidden meaning like Shakespeare (sabre-rattling), e.g. Munchkin (cannibal)