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Article: Dispelling the rumors.(William Shakespeare)
- Article from:
- Calliope
- Article date:
- April 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Carus Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Doubts about whether Shakespeare really wrote the plays and poems attributed to him began surfacing in the late 1700s, almost 200 years after his death. Some anti-Shakespeare forces even questioned his existence. Others argued that it was unlikely that a humble Stratford man would have possessed the extensive knowledge of the classics, foreign lands, and upper class life so brilliantly incorporated into the tragedies, comedies, and history plays.
In response, scholars cited public sources as evidence that Shakespeare was a real person. They noted that, if he attended a grammar school of the period, he would have been well educated in classical literature, ...