Did Shakespeare REALLY write his own plays? 

Buy a DNA kit here: bit.ly/GeorgiaFrancis and use the coupon code GEORGIA for free shipping. As a bonus, you can start a 30-day free trial of MyHeritage’s best subscription for family history research - and enjoy a 50% discount if you decide to continue it.

Can we have a full history video on Hellen Keller someday please? I have been researching her story for the past few weeks and have watched two versions of the miracle worker, and more recordings of the plays about her.

As an author, I have a few thoughts on this: 1. My unfinished works should be seen by no one, period. BURN THEM IF I DIE BEFORE THEY'RE FINISHED. But, I don't actually have that written in my will. I just assume no one will care enough to try to figure out my filing system and/or atrocious handwriting enough to figure out what my unfinished works were actually supposed to say. 2. It's not uncommon for some people to have multiple spellings of the same name within the same family. My family is Dutch but moved to an English-speaking country. My dad uses the Dutch spelling of our last name (Dreijer) while me and my mother use the anglicised spelling (Dreyer). I have actually alternated between the two within my own life depending on what I was feeling like at the time, so... it's not unthinkable for Shakespeare to have done the same. 3. As you said at one point, authors are sponges. We absorb traits, including writing styles and turns of phrase, from people around us. We also tend to group together with other like-minded creatives. My circle of close friends is probably 75% authors, people who want to be authors some day, or people who are involved in some kind of other literary artform. The other 25% are artists of different types. Creatives are drawn to one another. Friendships are also a thing. It's entirely possible that those bits where people are all "oh this is too similar to so-and-so's work" are literally instances where Shakespeare happened to be hanging out with so-and-so enjoying a mead or twelve one night, so-and-so said something catchy, and Shakespeare went, "OH MAN, THAT'S SO GOOD, I'M USING THAT!" Happens all the time in my friendship group. 4. There's this weird idea that written works are only ever created by a single person. In my experience, that's... rare. Authors are not an island. We are social animals living in a society with creative people around us. We talk to one another. We collaborate. Obviously, I can't speak for all authors, but every single one in my circle has either co-written a book, beta read another author's book, used beta readers on their own book, or at the very least hired an editor to help them improve said work at the end. There's an entire chapter in my first book that wouldn't exist if one of my writer friends hadn't said, "Hmm, something's missing here" and suggested a scene that was just too good to skip. My best works are my collaborative projects. Who's to say Shakespeare didn't do the same? I could totally see him going, "Ugh man, I just can't figure out the best way to finish this scene. I know, I'll go ask my friend, so-and-so. They always have the best ideas!" and then rocked off to run through the scene with his friend, and... boom! Said friend has the perfect way to end the scene. It happens. 5. Completely unrelated to the topic: Georgia, your hair looks so cute in this video.

Just popping in to say that I am also a Swiftie! 😄 I find it so cool that you are related to Shakespeare! I’m really loving all of your history videos. Thank you so much for making them! ❤

I learned in high school that William Shakespeare was a pseudonym, possibly played by different people. As was george orwell, who was played by eric arthur blair. As was mark twain, who some know was samuel clemmons.

Sitting down to a Georgia video while doing crafts is unparalleled 💖

You create videos on the most interesting topics Georgia. Always a pleasure to virtually spend time with you ❤

Maybe the statue *was* originally of the father because he was a reletively influential person in the area, but at some point when in need of some kind of repair was changed into that of William himself when it became more apparent that he was the more famous 'claim to fame' for the area. They could've repurposed it for tourism or for any number of reasons. I feel like it would be easier to tweak a statue than make an entirely new one. And, as you said, that doesn't really mean he didn't write his own plays. Maybe the person who drew the first one saw the statue, then drew a picture of it at a later time after having forgotten some of the details. I've done that before. Idk why they drew it, but I doubt it was because they expected it to last through the centuries as some kind of proof of something. Half the things I write or draw I fully expect to be thrown away or damaged after I'm gone. I'd be shocked if people 400 years from now were examining any of them for proof of something. I don't think that far ahead...

This is such an interesting topic, especially as someone who lives in Stratford-Upon-Avon; my brother even goes to the grammar school which Shakespeare is believed to have gone to. I remember in primary school it was very Shakespeare focused and we went to all if the Shakespeare related places about the town (secondary school less so as it wasn’t in Stratford).

I'm mostly Irish and Scottish with a wee bit of English. Further back on my mum's side, there's Eastern European, Russian, Romany, Irish Traveller and Scandinavian. We've traced my dad's mum's family back to 1666 in South Lanarkshire, Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Oh my GOD I was just randomly thinking “why doesn’t Georgia make videos anymore” and I had to type your name in the search bar and wtf you never stopped! I am like in disbelief there’s so many videos and RU-vid never told me not on my subscription page not while randomly scrolling I am so annoyed but also happy I have plenty to binge now. Love you!!!! ❤

Love a historical conspiracy! And the genealogist in me is very pleased you enjoyed researching your family tree 🌳

Hey Georgia, I'm so glad you made a video on this topic. Fun fact: my last oral exam was on Shakespeare (which I passed 10 days ago) and then I graduated college, so I'm quite familiar with the topic.

I love your history videos, thanks for the great entertainment and greetings from Bavaria!

Joining an Elizabethan theater group back then was like joining the junior league version of Peaky Blinders. There is a good article on the subject: William Shakespeare : Gangster by Mike Dash. I would post the link but it has been shadow banned twice with warnings. That's right, youtube has stooped to shadow banning Shakespeare. Here is a clue, John Florio was at the beginning of the earliest versions of the plays performed by Leicester's Men and at the end as editor of the First Folio with Ben Jonson. Leicester was John Florio's first patron. No Lords wrote plays because it was beneath their station. Lords provided story lines to a hundred stock playwrights shuffling between a dozen theater groups and everyone did each others plays.

Super interesting! I love researching my family tree

I’ve always enjoyed this Shakespeare theory! So fascinating.

How many times have we seen extremely gifted people come out of below humble beginnings? I mean Jimmy Hendrix, arguably one of the best guitar players to ever walk the earth, didn’t grow up w lessons and was mainly self taught. He couldn’t even afford a guitar he had to practice for years on an old used ukulele, and despite all of that played circles around his peers who had been classically trained since childhood. Many didn’t even believe his story bc they refused to believe that someone like him w no formal training could play better than THEM … Many other genius’ in other subjects have come from “impoverished” areas that would make it seem unlikely they could have gotten as far as they did. The truth is, some people are just truly gifted… they become so in love with a subject/talent and it all just makes sense to them, they are able to naturally excel at that talent, despite their upbringing. It’s possible Shakespeare had a mentor or friend (an elder who was more aware of the world of royalty etc) that mentor/friend could’ve taught him a lot. Or at the very least, lent him books on playwriting , aristocracy, etc. Or who knows, he could’ve worked for a while for an upper class family and learned a lot from it (and was able to sneak books and plays into his room etc). And being a quick learner w a knack for this kind of thing, it just came easy to Shakespeare to immerse himself in that world as he wrote . Most of the evidence against him is flimsy at best. I mean, how many times have we read the same cliche quotes over and over again nowadays. I’m sure they had their own cliches back then that Shakespeare and other writers would parrot. Them using a few of the same quotes isn’t proof of anything. I find it really hard to believe that someone else wrote those plays and then picked some random guy from a random town as their alias. And they didn’t leave anything in their will after their death to expose the truth about the plays they’d written . No taking credit for them- nothing?? Nah. Doesn’t add up. I think he wrote those plays and had more of an education than historians know (whether that be a formal one or just from reading /knowing the right people ). And later on a bunch of stuffy aristocrats can’t wrap their minds around such a “low class” man being that talented. So they make it their mission to “debunk” it 🙄

this is such an interesting topic! so excited to watch 🫶🏻

i love that you found out you were directly related and immediately made a callout video

I really enjoyed this video Georgia. I've heard people say that Shakespeare didn't write his plays but I don't agree. I just think that he was a genius that travelled extensively and educated himself on court politics etc. As to why he didn't teach his daughters to read and write, it wasn't the done thing in those days for girls to get an education.😊

I’ve been listening to Georgia now for just over a year but I absolutely loved this podcast film or whatever you wanna call it. I’m ashamed to say I’ve never heard any of these rumours about Shakespeare so this was incredibly educational video for me

This video made me want to research my family history, such an interesting video 🥰

Have you heard the theory that Alexander Pushkin and Alexandre Dumas are the same person ? Apparently people believe Pushkin fled to France and was writing as Dumas after the duel that was set up to escape the government he higly critisized. Pretty entertaining. The W. S. theory always kinda reminds me of that.

god imagine you draw a fucked up hand and suddenly that thing becomes an argument as to why shakespeare supposedly was a huge fraud 😂💀

In 1592, Robert Greene wrote about an "upstart crow" who thought that he could "bombast out a blank verse as the best of you." He then puns on the name Shakespeare stating that this writer thinks he is the "only Shake-scene in a country." Greene is referring to William Shakespeare.

No freaking way you are a legend! I hope this DNA testing is accurate lol but if not you're still cool afi'm glad you've got a good researcher and including the sidenote was very cute uwu

This was so interesting. Thank you!

I have recently been doing some family research as well. If it’s accurate, William Shakespeare is my 14th great uncle. I’m a direct descendant of his sister Joan who married a Hart. My great grandmother was a Hart. Small world!

And I am back for another comment! Georgia, I have a case suggestion that combines three of your favourite topics: True crime, historical cases, and... lesbians. Maybe. It's from the 1950s, so half the media coverage is like, "GASP! LESBIANS!" and the other half is like "No, no, they were just very close friends..." You know how it was back then. Anyway! Back story! So, I've been working my way backwards through your catalogue over the last few months. I find your voice so soothing to listen to while I'm working, plus I learn interesting things and occasionally have a good cry - I just love your empathy and humanity. Every so often, I find myself thinking, "I wonder if Georgia's heard of..." and then I immediately get distracted by SOMETHING and forget to post the suggestion. So, here's me, officially remembering to post the suggestion! Have you ever heard of the Juliet Hulme and Pauline Parker case? It's a true case from the 1950s in New Zealand about a pair of young girls who end up falling into a deep fantasy world together that culminates in their suspected romantic relationship... and the pair of them beating Pauline's mother to death with half a brick in a stocking. They have later denied the romantic relationship and insist that they were just very obsessed with one another, buuuut... y'know, I don't know, the queer vibes are strong. It's one of those cases that everyone knows down here in New Zealand, especially after Peter Jackson (yes, THE Peter Jackson) released his 1994 hit movie Heavenly Creatures about the story, but it occurs to me that you would have been too young to have been aware of it when that media brought it up in 1994, or maybe it just never got publicised outside of New Zealand. It's a really interesting case with some fascinating psychology behind it. I'd love to see you cover it. If nothing else, look up the movie sometime. Juliet Hulme is played by Kate Winslet, and... I mean, it's Peter Jackson, so you know it's good. Plus, it got him his first Oscar(s), so again... good movie. Weird, but good.

I love history!! more hisotry videos

Thankyou for a most excellent Video, your "lighter" videos are always a treat.

oohh i love him watching it now

final thoughts, i love the theory that involved marlowe faking his own death bc every conspiracy needs a fun little twist, but it's still a mystery to me how any of these people would have known about shakespeare if he was just a regular guy and didn't write plays. Like if you come up with a pen name, you don't usually use the name of an actual real life person, and you sure as hell don't have that person impersonate you ??? Still nowhere near as insane as some of the stuff i've heard from the swifties tho 😂

You could also do a video on the mystery surrounding the dark lady sonnets

If you're using a fake name isn't a rule number one to remember how to spell it? Because if he himself was illiterate then he never actually signed anything, it was "ghost writer" that did, so why would THEY forget how to spell?

Remember Ben Jonson famously wrote that the bard knew “small Latin and less Greek.” Since 95 percent of the books were written in either Greek or Latin, back then, Jonson was politely saying that Shakespeare was illiterate. Example: do a Google search for the three source materials for The Comedy of Errors. Note: the play was first performed in 1594. One book was not yet available in English until 1595 and the other two were not translated from Greek until after 1600. But if a play was performed in 1594, it had to have been written at least a year before so that the actors could learn their lines. How could someone who did not understand Greek read the source books? Spoiler alert: chatting with people in town will not cut it. The earl of Oxford started learning Greek at age four and then Latin. His childhood tutor Sir Thomas Smith owned the source books necessary for writing the play.

Great job Georgia!!

This is so interesting what an excellent video !!

Thanks for the video.

I absolutely loved this video thank you

Excellent video. Yes, Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare. Shakespeare's background was quite normal for most Elizabethan playwrights; middle class yet upwardly mobile. Its no surprise his parents were probably illiterate. Around 95% of people born during the Elizabethan era had illiterate parents. It was the reformation after all that brought mass literacy.

I'm so excited for this video!

I love this particular topic, it's so fun to imagine a secret guild of writers using Shakespeare as a pseudonym. Also love that curveball of you being mostly Irish, as an Irish viewer we're chuffed to have you! 😂 That 1.4% middle eastern was the exact interesting little surprise that I'd hoped for but my results were exactly as I'd assumed. About 65% Irish and Scottish (not just Irish but our specific part, we've *been* hanging around), 35% a mix of English and French from my maternal grandfathers line. No surprises there. My great grandfather was a Londoner of French background who was sent to live in Ireland after WWI because the quieter country life was better suited to sufferers of 'shell shock' (PTSD) than noisy, busy London. Apparently he never spoke again after the war, totally mute.

This video is so interesting and how cool that you're related

Oh Shakespeare well very interesting subject. Thank you Oh you are related to.that man. Well i hope he did write his own work

This may be too far off your regular contact, but I would very much enjoy a video on creating a family tree. I did the my heritage DNA kit but I’m having difficulties regarding building the family tree.

i am also distantly related to shakespeare!!

I’m all about Shakespeare being written by William Shakespeare. It’s interesting to look at the theories I’ve even heard Edmund Spenser mentioned as a candidate. I just don’t think anyone but he wrote them.

John Heminges, Henry Condell, and Richard Burbage, three actors of The Lord Chamberlain's Men, a famous acting company that included William Shakespeare, were given money by William Shakespeare of Stratford in his Last Will and Testament in 1616. Two of these actors, John Heminges and Henry Condell, were responsible for having 36 of Shakespeare's plays published in the First Folio in 1623. Ben Jonson's eulogy in the First Folio clearly praises Shakespeare as a great writer and refers to him as the “Sweet Swan of Avon.” This obviously designates Shakespeare as from Stratford upon Avon. Furthermore, Jonson states that "thy writings to be such, /As neither Man, nor Muse, can praise too much." Heminges and Condell also praise Shakespeare as a writer, stating that "he thought, he uttered with that easinesse, that wee have scarse received from him a blot in his papers. But it is not our province, who onely gather his works, and give them you, to praise him." These are "his works" and "his papers" that they are publishing. He is clearly presented as the writer of these works in the First Folio. The Last Will and Testament of William Shakespeare of Stratford clearly connects him with the 1623 First Folio through Heminges and Condell and it is clear that Shakespeare is presented as the author of the plays.

This is an interesting topic. I would have never thought of it before

I mean, Shakespeare talks about Venice all the time without ever seeming to mention the thing that makes Venice iconic: the canals. The whole “he had to be so much better educated and more well traveled than this” argument never made sense to me because of that

There was a movie released in 2011 called Anonymous that is about the theory Edward de Vere was the true writer of Shakespeare's work. I don't buy the theory either, but you might want to watch it for fun, it was well acted.

idk how things were in england back then, but you could probably pick up a lot of latin from church at that time 🤷‍♀

I'd be interested in more videos about writers 🙂

I hope this sale goes until payday!!! Really want to do this

I don't have an opinion because I believe we'll never find out anyway - all we can do at this point is appreciate his works. There's no way to know for sure and pretty much anything is possible after so many years.

I'm a 48 year old born and raised in California. Told my whole life that i was absolutely German and Portuguese. Turns out I'm almost 30% Scottish 😂

This is a very cool video! How did I not know these theories? I love the plays written and now I gotta think of them as written by a woman 😂 that’s the one I believe the most bc like why not?!

This is an interesting concept. 🤔. It’s good to know you’re a fan of her as well🎤🎼🎹

Why is She's The Man my fave modern Shakespeare telling too?

I love this conspiracy, Its rather ridiculous but pretty harmless. And I love ciphers. And Also love a good debunking.

I love your hair

The first sentence of the will is probably just a legality to mean he is capable to drafting a valid will.

There are only 7 stories: overcoming the monster Rags to riches The quest Rebirth Comedy Tragedy Voyage and return

I’ve heard of the theory that William Shakespeare most likely didn’t write his own plays but took credit for the real writer. I’m not really sure myself if William Shakespeare really wrote his plays, but I think the most likely person who could’ve written them if it wasn’t Shakespeare was Marslow. He had the connections and the education to have that sort of background needed to write those plays. It would make sense why he could’ve written them secretly during that time especially since he was going to be arrested. Very interesting video! I also enjoy history very much.

the whole argument is just bonkers. his plays were written to be seen acted out on a stage, not read like a book the way we do now so of course he wasn't concerned with keeping it well-documented

❤ thank you

I am more inclined to believe that Shakespeare was a woman. Congrats on your Shakespeare connection, i certainly would be mentioning that at parties 🤗❤

I'm not big into conspiracy theories, but this is one I kind of believe. *edit- The anagrams and 'jingles' are dumb.

Just commenting for the algorithm 💙

Thank you for explaining this. I've been hearing for over half of my life that Shakespeare didn't write his plays and someone else did, and I couldn't figure out where this rumor was coming from. Why would anyone think that? Classism. It's just classism again. I appreciate the thorough takedown.

I just don't think that if someone else wrote it, once it started to get popular just let him take credit for it and not totally freak out.

Loved this one! I’ve seen so much on this topic, still convinced that ‘ol Willy S was the real deal . No conspiracy 😂

“When a man’s verses cannot be understood, nor a man’s good wit seconded with the forward child, understanding, it strikes a man more dead than a great reckoning in a little room.” (As You Like It; 3.3.9-12) The above quote is spoken by Touchstone in As You Like It, one of Shakespeare’s most beloved plays…as I’m sure many of you know. In her video, Georgia pointed out that many Anti-Strats find coded references to the idea WS did not actually write his plays and that Christopher Marlowe was, in fact, the real author. Conversely, one can argue that WS not only wrote his own works, but in reverence to CM, he also referred the his untimely death in As You Like…and it is not even that mysterious or encoded. That is, you don’t have to squint, turn it upside down, or rearrange the letters as must be done with most of the “encoded messages” proffered by the Anti-Strats. You see, again as Georgia stated, CM was in a fair amount of trouble at the time of his death. Not only were many of his works, such as The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus and Edward II, on the verge of being blasphemous and heretical, though CM probably did not intend to offend so much as speak his mind, using wit and satire in his plays as a way of drawing attention to the hypocrisy of the aristocracy, particularly concerning the dichotomous juxtaposition of wealth and greediness versus Christian ideology. However, those in control did not see it as a playful discussion of these ideas. In fact, they found CM’s writing threatening and more dangerous than it probably was; one might say CM’s “verses [were not] understood, nor [was CM’s] good wit seconded”. Moreover, around this same time, CM was very likely working as a spy for Elizabeth I and her spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham. There is evidence suggesting Walsingham believed CM was actually working as a double agent. Obviously, this was treason and, if proven, the penalty was death. Something else that CM’s handlers and higher ups definitely balked at was his fairly open homosexuality. It was not a secret CM spent a considerable amount of time with Sir Walter Raleigh and other such scallawags…many of which were also known for their homosexual tendencies and blatant disregard for the status quo. It would have surprised anyone if, to avoid the extremely slow moving wheels of justice, Walsingham took matters into his own hands and simply had CM assassinated. The story of CM’s demise is quite curious, if not completely tragic. CM was murdered. Indeed, he was stabbed in his forehead by one of two men who were with him the night he died. All three men were drinking in a private room of an establishment owned by a Widow Bull. Ostensibly, the story goes that CM was stabbed whilst quarreling over the bill; the old who owed what and why was mine so much more than yours kind of thing. Ultimately, it would be considered an unfortunate accident and not too much would be done about it. Interestingly, during Elizabethan times, a common synonym for the word bill was “reckoning”. Hmmm…now where have we heard that before? Oh, right, “…it makes a man more dead than a great reckoning in a little room.” In this case it made Marlowe more dead… Basically, not only does WS draw attention to CM’s death in As You Like It, but he also calls bullshit on the commonly accepted explanation for why the death happened in the first place. Sure, WS is cool with aspects of the story, but he also underscores his belief that it had nothing to do with fighting over the bill and everything to do with CM’s precarious sociopolitical standing…at least as far as the aristocracy was concerned. In my opinion, aside from the evidence that WS seemingly acknowledged CM’s murder, the most compelling evidence that he did not write WS’s plays comes down to one simple observation. If CM were the true author, why did he not take ownership of the plays written during his lifetime? I mean, he already was a playwright, so why bother? Not only that, but why bother using a pseudonym for the really popular and fairly politically unproblematic plays, only to claim the plays that were not only controversial, but also often not quite as popular? Not to mention that WS famously wrote in strict iambic pentameter and very frequently used rhyme in his places, especially rhyming couplets. Whereas CM employed mostly blank verse, almost never using rhyme, and exercised some flexibility in terms of meter; he saved using rhyme almost exclusively for poetry. Of course, then there is the main problem of CM’s aforementioned death and the many witnesses to it. CM died at age 29 in 1593. WS died at 52 in 1616. That is a long time to be fake dead. As in most cases, Occam’s razor should be employed when coming to conclusions about WS’s true identity. Really, I should scratch the use of “true” because it suggests there is even a question as to WS’s identity…and there just isn’t. Frankly, the Anti-Strat’s method of pointing to WS’s spelling (or lack thereof) or certain words is totally ridiculous; and they absolutely know it. The reason it’s so silly is because the Early Modern period, the academic name given to the timeframe this period covers when discussing the literature and its history, is when standardized spelling and grammar are in their eensy-weensy infancy. The main reason standardized spelling and grammar even came about was to accommodate printers who were stuck tediously typesetting that new-fangled invention from Germany called the printing press. Before it was invented in 1438, spelling and grammar were pretty much a free-for-all. That is, a writer simply wrote the word as it sounded to them. Anyone who has ever had the good fortune to use a medieval dictionary will know that it consist of 25 or maybe 30 different volumes. This is because it must include all the alternate spellings of each word ever written down during the Middle Ages and before the advent of standardized spelling. Thus, because common spelling was so new, many folks were truly uncertain about the way to write their given names, so not only were variant spellings of the same surname extremely common, using signs or symbols whether or not one was literate was still extremely common as well. Honestly, Anti-Strats need to give up the cause…or be more consistent at the very least. Let’s think about this. If all the reasons given to prove WS didn’t exist, was a pseudonym, etc. fly for him, then they must be employed in all other similar situations and concerning all other writers who fall into that situation, such as any other writers from the period who only went to grammar school. It just does not make sense. Incidentally, I am a medieval and early modern scholar. My graduate work focused on Marlowe and late Elizabethan literature. I’m saying this only to underscore that I know what I’m talking about at least a little bit. Thanks, Georgia, for a really great video!

Ah yes dna testing . Made me obnoxiously annoying about my 60% Irish ☘️.lol

Bacon!!!!

British Moment™ but does anyone else miss the little embossed Shakespeare portrait in the pages of the pre-Brexit red passports? 😢 The new ones are ugly imo and the little ghost Will made me giggle. You couldn't really see him unless you held him up to the light and then there he was with his lil earrings ✨

Fraud, is not a harmless conspiracy. Neither is plagiarism. Just sayin

Tiny bit of Eastern European and Middle Eastern might mean you're a tiny bit Jewish!

Lol welcome to the Middle East club!

am i the only one that wants a whole video about taylor swift 😂

Em, yes. It is about class, Georgia, however not as you believe. Shakespeare does not exist and never has did. Is merely a construct to imply the superiority of the usage of the English language. i.e. No one can doubt our superiority... cos... Shakespear/Shakspare/Shakesper. Another load of total nonsense written by the victors in order to portray England as the very most superior race of people. Perhaps you were taught such in "school." Q. Why or how have any other race of people, in the entire world ever, have been able to survive so very long without Englands assistance ? It's very impressive for such a tiny place. (Sarcasm intended.) Yep, it truly is a mystery... ahem...

My beliefs? Shakespeare wrote the Works of Shakespeare, Moses wrote the Books of Moses. As a Bible scholar and English major.