Who Wrote Shakespeare?

This chapter concentrates on the Shakespeare authorship controversy. It examines the correlation between the literary persona that is the author of the Shakespearean corpus with the historical persona that is William of Stratford. It also talks about the English schoolteacher named J. Thomas Looney, who created a profile of the author of the Shakespearean corpus based on the contents of the plays and poetry. The chapter looks into Looney's proposal that Edward de Vere is the author of the Shakespearean corpus. It also discusses the “New Criticism,” which is an approach to literature that intentionally ignores authorship or authorial intent as well as social and cultural context in favor of deep readings of the text and an aesthetic appreciation of its structure and perceived meaning.