Leaving aside the question of whether de Vere DID actually die in 1604 (not going to die on that hill!) This issue was the main stumbling block to me becoming an Oxfordian until I had alternative explanations for the 1605 "Gunpowder Plot" Macbeth and the 1611 "Bermudan shipwreck" Tempest. I now am educated (due to Prof. Stritmatter among others) about the probable earlier influences for both plays and...Hey presto! I have become a fervent Oxfordian.
You may believe Stritmatter of course, if you will. But Oxford didn't die in 1604. He lived up to 1621 - the preparations of the First Folio began after his death. Which would have benn quite logical. And placed the references to the Gunpowder Plot in Macbeth and in the Sonnet Quarto 1609 on purpose.
Thank you for this very interesting lecture. Putting Shakespeare into a more realistic and thoughtful timeframe helps me to remember that this terrible time of adversity in the United States will pass ultimately.
17:00 What I hear you say “staged at court,” I think “You mean put on for Elizabeth,” primarily for her entertainment and delight. All the put-ons and ridicules of foreign enemies or opponents or even of her pet peeves would have been instantly understood by the attending courtiers. Their howls of laughter would show they were all having a jolly good time. Cheap good times and good will for the 1000£ a year she was paying Oxford. It worked. They stuck with her till she died.
Contra David Bevington, Oxford-Shakespeare dropped one or two hints that he was prone to keeping his writing under lock and key.
Leaving aside the question of whether de Vere DID actually die in 1604 (not going to die on that hill!) This issue was the main stumbling block to me becoming an Oxfordian until I had alternative explanations for the 1605 "Gunpowder Plot" Macbeth and the 1611 "Bermudan shipwreck" Tempest. I now am educated (due to Prof. Stritmatter among others) about the probable earlier influences for both plays and...Hey presto! I have become a fervent Oxfordian.
You may believe Stritmatter of course, if you will. But Oxford didn't die in 1604. He lived up to 1621 - the preparations of the First Folio began after his death. Which would have benn quite logical.
And placed the references to the Gunpowder Plot in Macbeth and in the Sonnet Quarto 1609 on purpose.
Thank you for this very interesting lecture. Putting Shakespeare into a more realistic and thoughtful timeframe helps me to remember that this terrible time of adversity in the United States will pass ultimately.
17:00 What I hear you say “staged at court,” I think “You mean put on for Elizabeth,” primarily for her entertainment and delight. All the put-ons and ridicules of foreign enemies or opponents or even of her pet peeves would have been instantly understood by the attending courtiers. Their howls of laughter would show they were all having a jolly good time. Cheap good times and good will for the 1000£ a year she was paying Oxford. It worked. They stuck with her till she died.
Thanks so much, fascinating. Cheers!