Shakespeare Plagiarism Accusations
For a long time, Shakespeare has been accused of plagiarism. It is said that he stole plots, poems, and even entire stories from other people. The movie "Anonymous" touches greatly on this issue. The movie accuses Shakespeare of being a fraud, taking work from Royal Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford. Since at that period it was beneath royals to write, it is sensible that Edward de Vere is the true writer. Since Shakespeare was poor, it was "at his level" to write. He could easily provide as the fake writer of these plays. Other people still accuse the William Shakespeare we know to never exist. William Shakespeare was but a pseudonym for Edward de Vere. Shakespeare has also been accused of stealing lines from other writers and using them as his own. For example, in Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice (1596), he uses the line "Love is Blind". However, this line shows up again in a piece two centuries ago. In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales (1387), he uses the line "Love is blynd". Shakespeare supporters however dismiss this evidence due to the fact that the line in question, "Love is blind" is just a popular saying. Just like the many spinoff books using the line "Twas the night before Christmas". The same concept. In the end, it comes down to whether you feel the evidence for, or against Shakespeare is significant enough for you to decide whether you find him guilty or innocent. Maybe, you may find evidence yourself one day to help this search. I find him innocent, but what do you find him?