A new film, due for release on 28th October this year, explores the ongoing argument that Shakespeare was not the author of the writings attributed to him. For many years various scholars have made this claim, but the bandwagon seeks to increase its speed with names such as Derek Jacobi becoming increasingly vociferous.
'Anonymous' advances the theory that it was Edward de Vere (Earl of Oxford) who was the pen behind the world's greatest writings. Queen Elizabeth I features in the story too, for obvious reasons, not least because there are claims that she produced several illegitimate children, thus challenging the accepted notion that she was was the 'Virgin Queen'. Paul Streitz, an American writer, claims that her first child - Edward de Vere (17th Earl of Oxford) - was sired in 1548, and is one of the main claimants to the name of Shakespeare, for those who do not believe a lad from rural Warwickshire capable of literary genius.
Even though I can't wait to see the film (and I enjoy a good 'theory' or two) I will remain unmoved in my opinion that William Shakespeare is the true author of his plays......If only he'd left more tangible evidence!