Glencoe World History

Chapter 14: Crisis and Absolutism in Europe, 1550–1715

Web Activity Lesson Plans

Introduction
For more than a century, a debate has raged over the true identity of William Shakespeare. The historical record provides little information on the man, and some scholars doubt his existence. Mark Twain and many others claimed there was no Elizabethan playwright by the name Shakespeare. In this activity students will review the recent history of the debate to learn about the period of English history during which Shakespeare's plays were written.

Lesson Description
Students will find a Web site that debates the authorship of Shakespeare. After reading an overview of the debate, students will answer four questions over what they have read. Students will then write their own essay, expressing their opinions on the debate about the identity of Shakespeare.

Instructional Objectives

1. Students will be able to review and summarize a historical debate.
2. Students will be able to apply what they have learned to write their own essay arguing about the identity of Shakespeare.

Student Web Activity Answers

1. People have doubted the ability of a sixteenth-century English commoner to gain the knowledge and skill required to write Shakespeare's plays.
2. Mark Twain, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Sigmund Freud, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, and Orson Welles are some of the people who have doubted Shakespeare’s authorship.
3. Some have suggested that Francis Bacon, Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe or Edward de Vere was the real William Shakespeare. According to the articles, Edward de Vere is the most likely author.
4. The fact that de Vere died before some of the plays were written brings out doubts about de Vere's authorship.
5. Students' essays will vary but should include appropriate information from their textbooks, the Web site, or additional research.