tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5418877072096761088.post7944316510131499549..comments2023-10-22T08:10:54.544-07:00Comments on Serendipitous Moments: The Film 'Anonymous' - but essentially Edward de Vere not Shakespeare!Ruth Rikowskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994566100983908536noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5418877072096761088.post-24502704551274746332016-04-18T15:05:48.280-07:002016-04-18T15:05:48.280-07:00I have just had a look at your blog Miriam. It is ...I have just had a look at your blog Miriam. It is absolutely beautiful.Ruth Rikowskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07994566100983908536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5418877072096761088.post-65690457195896339542016-04-17T01:42:33.658-07:002016-04-17T01:42:33.658-07:00Thanks Miriam. I didn't know about this latest...Thanks Miriam. I didn't know about this latest book edited by Anderson, Waugh and McNeil. Looks really good! But it's only available on Kindle, isn't it, and I don't have one. It wouldn't be good for my eyes to have one, either. Hopefully, it will come out in a book format, at some point. I see that there are a lot of critical reviews of Shapiro's 'The Year of Lear' book though, which is good. I read Shapiro's other book, 'Contested Will' with an open mind (I wasn't quite so persuaded of the Oxfordian position at that point). But I didn’t find it a very engaging read overall (which now I realise it could not be, because it isn’t based on solid ground!). So, half way through it, I turned to the books that Howard Schumann recommended (see his comments on this blog above). I read all 3 of the books that he recommended, and one of them was Anderson’s book ‘Shakespeare by Another Name’, which as you rightly say, is a brilliant book. Finally, I have changed the pic of my blog now, to a painting of Edward De Vere that is in the National Portrait Gallery. Once again, thanks so much for your comments. It is a fascinating subject and I will write another blog about it all at some point, I feel sure.Ruth Rikowskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07994566100983908536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5418877072096761088.post-5116443041905360712016-04-16T05:33:58.454-07:002016-04-16T05:33:58.454-07:00Another book you might consider, if you have not a...Another book you might consider, if you have not already, is the powerful "Shakespeare by Another Name" by Mark Anderson - now considered the most important shakespeare biography of the last 400 yrs. The best exploration of de Vere i have ever read. As City Pages in Minneapolis wrote: "Prepare to have the earth move under your feet."Miriam Bolandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03737766192349097146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5418877072096761088.post-61896717007236185372016-04-14T14:07:21.583-07:002016-04-14T14:07:21.583-07:00Ruth (& of course, Glenn), It's always exc...Ruth (& of course, Glenn), It's always exciting to me these days to meet a fellow-oxfordian! I wanted you to know that a group of highly esteemed scholars have written a rebuttal to James Shapiro's THE YEAR OF LEAR: SHAKEPEARE IN 1606. Edited y Mark Anderson, Alexander Waugh, and Alex McNeil. It is the latest in the Oxfordian body of research; you can find it on Kindle. It is another eye-opener, when you thought it would be hard to have another! <br />(Also, the picture at the top of the pg is John de Vere, father of Edward. But hey, the whole father issue?) New eyes, new thoughts - it makes reading and seeing the plays that more exciting! Good luck with your ongoing voyage in this brave new world.....<br />~ MiriamMiriam Bolandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03737766192349097146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5418877072096761088.post-61932959999033699692016-03-13T05:22:06.716-07:002016-03-13T05:22:06.716-07:00However, it was only the De Vere books that were r...However, it was only the De Vere books that were really engaging, powerful and convincing. The other books lacked authenticity and were not compelling reading. This is because the authors essentially had to ‘make a lot of stuff up’ and so they could not be so convincing and persuasive – I feel sure about this now. And I feel this even more keenly now that I am writing my own novels. Much of the material written by fiction authors and playwrights comes from the authors’ own experiences and background. I have recently been revisiting Charles Dickens and did not realise before, just how many of his novels are based on his actual life. Quite amazing really! The stories around debtors prisons (e.g. ‘Little Dorrit’ and ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’) being based around and building on the fact that Dickens’ father was in a debtors prison<br /><br />In addition, I love Derek Jacobi and he is convinced that it was De Vere too – just to put the icing on the cake. Derek Jacobi, through his wonderful performance as Claudius, in particular, in the BBC Series ‘I Claudius’, based on Robert Graves book, taught me just so much about the Roman Empire and its power struggles, its culture and its workings.<br /><br />I now feel that the time is ripe to move on and re-watch some (at least) of the Shakespeare plays, but through the eyes of De Vere being the writer rather than the Stratford man. I think that would now be more productive than continually reading around the subject (especially as many academics can make names for themselves by coming up with different ‘theories’, which can detract from the main game). I do not want to find myself just reading loads of books about various possibilities – I am much keener on trying to get to the truth! <br /><br />By getting to the truth many, many more people can enjoy the plays and also only then can we properly understand what they are about. This can also then be tied up with politics, culture, economics and history. This can then help us to understand our current political system, the English culture that we are now embedded into, our sense of history and the monarchy etc. It can all fit together. The plays are written from an aristocratic, pro-Feudal point of view, where the monarchy is valued. At the same time, the plays are not just straight historical dramas, but about different facets of the playwright’s life (this is what Anderson, in particular, convinced me/us of). With this in mind, I recently watched ‘Henry V’ (with Derek Jacobi being the Chorus). Looking at it through the eyes of De Vere being the writer of the play it all made a lot more sense to me. And Henry V came out very much as being the hero, recapturing France (even though it caused so much bloodshed). Also, Henry V had just so many of the beautiful and poetic lines and speeches. So, more anon on all of this (in all probability) …. It certainly is a fascinating and important subject.<br />Ruth Rikowskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07994566100983908536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5418877072096761088.post-68224270770074090972016-03-13T05:20:53.111-07:002016-03-13T05:20:53.111-07:00Dear Howard,
Well, I have gone on quite some jour...Dear Howard,<br /><br />Well, I have gone on quite some journey with all of this. I am now, in essence, convinced that Edward De Vere did indeed write the plays. I bought and read ALL of the books that you recommended, and amazingly my husband read most of them too! We were enthralled. They were all so well-written as well. Thank you so much for giving me such good recommendations. The authors approached the topic from different angles, and that made us feel even more certain that it was De Vere. You know, ‘I come to Bury Shakspere’ focusing more on why it could not have been the Stratford man; Anderson’s book looking at the plays in more detail and marrying it up with De Vere’s life; and Ogburn spending more time looking at De Vere’s actual life. Together, they are extremely powerful – the trinity, eh! I also bought Looney’s book ‘Shakespeare Identified’ but found that the other books had really gone through his basic arguments, but in more detail. Still, all this is very much down to Looney first ‘discovering’ all of this, of course.<br /><br />I have also read some other books, to try to get a more rounded feel and perspective on it all – you know to avoid any chance of just jumping on the ‘De Vere’ band wagon, as it were. In terms of Stratfordian books, I have read all or parts of the following books:<br /><br />‘Shakespeare: the world as a stage’ by Bill Bryson<br /><br />‘Shakespeare and the Nature of Women’ by Juliet Dusinberre<br /><br />‘English Drama Before Shakespeare’ by Peter Happe<br /><br />‘Shakespeare the Man’ by A. L. Rowse<br /><br />‘Contested Will’ by James Shapiro (looking at Bacon, Oxford (De Vere) and traditional Shakespeare but coming out on the side of the Stratford man. The debate between De Vere and Shakespeare is often referred to as the Stratfordians versus the Oxfordians, of course).<br /><br />‘William Shakespeare’ by Michael St John Parker<br /><br />Then, I bought one book that focused on Francis Bacon:<br /><br />‘Shakespeare, Bacon and the Great Unknown’ by Andrew Lang – but that was not very good. Not very well-written and no proper references.<br /><br />Then, a book suggesting that a lot of it was written by someone quite different – by Thomas Sackville. This book is:<br /><br />‘The Apolcryphal William Shakespeare: Book One of A ‘Third Way’ Shakespeare Authorship Scenario’ by Sabrina Feldman. <br /><br />But this book seemed to be more of an academic exercise, with academics trying to make a name for themselves by suggesting it was someone different.<br /><br />(Cont on next comment - as it won't all fit into this comment!)Ruth Rikowskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07994566100983908536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5418877072096761088.post-72354400797497246572015-12-07T15:50:43.084-08:002015-12-07T15:50:43.084-08:00Thanks for your comment Howard. Yes, the film '...Thanks for your comment Howard. Yes, the film 'Anonymous' is very powerful but I am now letting the whole thing bed down a little, and I am keeping an open mind. I am currently reading a book by James Shapiro called 'Contested Will: who wrote Shakespeare?'. Shapiro looks at Shakespeare, Bacon and Oxford but comes down on the side of Shakespeare. It is interesting to learn more about the author of the book 'Shakespeare Identified', J. T. Looney. The film 'Anonymous' was inspired by this book and was based on it. Also, to discover that Freud read the book and was convinced. However, the idea that De Vere was both Elizabeth 1's son and lover does seem a bit far-fetched, and this is one of the many points that Shapiro makes. Thanks for your book recommendations too. Perhaps, in time I will read some of these other books, and may even write another blog entry - have to see.Ruth Rikowskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07994566100983908536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5418877072096761088.post-54410018400685354152015-12-04T14:55:05.882-08:002015-12-04T14:55:05.882-08:00It's nice to come across someone who thinks fo...It's nice to come across someone who thinks for themselves and looks to the evidence for the truth, not the conventional wisdom. There are some very good books on the authorship question which I would suggest:<br /><br />Shakespeare By Another Name by Mark Anderson<br />The Mysterious William Shakespeare by Charlton Ogburn<br />I Come to Bury Shaksper II by Steven Steinburg<br /><br />There are many others as well.Howard Schumannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00691406515800937764noreply@blogger.com