Shakespeare did not write a single word of the plays attributed to him. Instead, an anonymous man with political motives orchestrated every word through Shakespeare’s name. So says director Roland Emmerich, screenwriter John Orloff, and an entire cast of characters in the upcoming film, Anonymous, which comes to theaters nationwide October 28, 2011.
With such a controversial topic, it’s hard to tell how audiences will take the film, especially more informed audiences that like to call themselves either “Anti-Stratfordians” or “Stratfordians.” While Stratfordians hold to Shakespeare’s absolute authorship of the renowned works of art, “Anti-Stratfordians” believe there is reasonable doubt that Shakespeare is the real author of the works. Literary greats, teachers, writers, world-renowned actors, directors and scholars such as Sigmund Freud, Orson Welles, Charlie Chaplin, Mark Twain, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, Sir Derek Jacobi, and Sir John Gielgud all have held to the Anti-Stratfordian position. While some believe in group theories (i.e. that a collective group of writers is responsible for the works), others favor singular writers such as Edward De Vere — the Earl of Oxford, Francis Bacon, or Christopher Marlowe.
Anonymous chooses to focus on the possibility that the Earl of Oxford penned the works so well known today. Was it a pure coincidence that Oxford’s annotated copy of the Geneva Bible marks passages that were used by Shakespeare or that Oxford’s nickname was “spear shaker?”
Orloff said he has been fascinated by the Shakespeare authorship question since first learning about the controversy as a 25-year-old graduate student 20 years ago.
“My first thought was, ‘Why had no one told me this?!’” Orloff said. “My second thought was that this would make a fantastic film. It had everything — murder, sex, lies, betrayal — truly the stuff of Shakespearean drama.”
“Roland has such a feel for the exciting topics that get people out of their chairs,” producer Kirstin Winkler said.
According to Winkler, the film is less about being accurate and more about telling a story that opens the Shakespeare authorship question to further research and discussion.
“I certainly don’t think that the film is trying to dictate his story as the truth,” she said. “It’s just one take on the authorship question, telling one tale.”
Little is known about Shakespeare. Many find it impossible to believe that the son of an illiterate tradesman was the author of such literary masterpieces as “The Merchant of Venice,” “King Lear,” and “Henry V.” His education from a village school could never have provided Shakespeare with a vocabulary extensive enough to write the most talked about literature in the world and there is no proof that he traveled to foreign lands let alone learned to speak their native tongues. The only written documentation historians can ascribe to Shakespeare is several signatures on official documents. Shakespeare’s death in 1616 was met with silence, unlike other celebrated writers of his time, and his will mentions no books or manuscripts of any kind.
“I’m surprised that this topic hasn’t been tackled before,” said Rhys Ifans, who plays the Early of Oxford. “The body of evidence is very, very convincing, and the thought that we might be possibly teaching our students a lie is, in my opinion, shocking. It’s a claim against our intellects and our history and our understanding of the greatest writer of all times. If you re-read or approach these plays with an Oxfordian eye, it opens up new ways of looking at these works that we haven’t even touched on.”
Winker said she expects the film will be controversial.
“There is quite a radical group of Stratfordians out there who feel very strongly about preserving the image of Shakespeare as the writer of the plays and sonnets,” she said.
But controversy aside, actor David Thewlis (who plays William Cecil) said that the film works well simply as a story. “No matter what you believe, it’s a great story,” he said. “Roland is very passionate about authorship question and he wants to put it to a wider audience. He is a very mischievous man, but I think he’s been rather daring to do this story — he likes to push people’s buttons.”
Rated PG-13 for some violence and sexual content, Anonymous will be released in theaters nationwide on October 28, 2011. The cast is headed by Rhys Ifans as Edward De Vere, the Earl of Oxford, and includes Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson, David Thewlis, Xavier Samuel, Sebastian Armesto, Rafe Spall, Edward Hogg, Jamie Campbell Bower, and Derek Jacobi.
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