Why there's doubt...

The authorship of the Shakespeare canon has been vigorously debated for hundreds of years. Starting in Elizabethan England, during Shakespeare's life, doubts began to appear. When the Shakespeare Authorship Roundtable began in the early 1980's the current academic climate refused to acknowledge the authorship question, even for the sake of curiosity. It was as if no doubt had ever existed.

 

Luckily, scholarly inquiry and new discoveries persisted to the point where Brunel University in London offered a Masters in Shakespeare Authorship studies for a time. The question continues to draw interest across a wide spectrum of individuals including Justice Stevens (who died in 2019) and the Academy Award winning actor Mark Rylance. When Mark became chair of the Shakespearean Authorship Trust (founded in 1922) he continued to emphasize further study of the question.  Many famous literary and historical figures are among those who wrote of their doubts that the Man from Stratford could possibly be the immortal Bard due to lack of education and resources among other discrepancies.

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On their website Doubt About Will, The Shakespeare Authorship Coalition is dedicated to legitimizing the Shakespeare Authorship question by increasing awareness of reasonable doubt about the identity of William Shakespeare and his literary claims.

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Below is an excerpt from their website where you can add your name to the Declaration. You will be in good company among educated and accomplished individuals who come down on the side of reason that there is undeniable value in the authorship question.

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"To Shakespeare lovers everywhere, as well as to those who are encountering him for the first time: know that a great mystery lies before you. How could William “Shakspere” of Stratford have been the author, William Shakespeare, and leave no definitive evidence of it that dates from his lifetime? And why is there an enormous gulf between the alleged author's life and the contents of his works?"