Roger Stritmatter talks Shakespeare and the Law
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 พ.ย. 2022
- In this edition of The SOF Interviews, Roger Stritmatter talks with Bob Meyers about Shakespeare and the Law: How the Bard’s Legal Knowledge Affects the Authorship Question.
The eleven essays in this comprehensive book, collected and edited by Professor Stritmatter, date between 1916 and 2013, and supply a detailed history of a controversial and consequential aspect of Shakespeare studies: the substantial scholarship establishing the bard’s frequent upcycling of the ideas and language of the law.
The book is available on Amazon: www.amazon.com/Shakespeare-La...
Learn more at ShakespeareOxfordFellowship.org.
In the most recent issue of The Oxfordian is an article by Paul Chambers; 'Employing Mathematics to Identify the Real Shakespeare'. Chambers argues that we should use statistical methods that were invented in the 18th century by Thomas Bayes and Pierre Simon LaPlace, but not really useful until the computing power created in the late 20th century made enormous calculations possible.
If we could convince some Bayesian statistical experts to use their skills to put numbers to the probability of Shakespeare (whoever he was) having had legal training, for instance, we'd be able to point to scientific evidence that couldn't be hand-waved away by literary sophists. When they tried, we could respond: 'Here is our probability calculation, what/where is yours?' We Oxfordians could get academic respectability in the eyes of real scholars, while making the Stratfordians look like the intellectuals they mostly are (speaking probabilistically, that is).
Bayesian reasoning has more or less taken over the statistical world, as well as any endeavor in which analytics can be useful. It's used in medical diagnoses, in engineering, in economics and finance--it made PayPal possible by identifying fraud--even in organized sports. Major League Baseball just changed its rules about how teams can position their infielders next year thanks to Bayesian reasoning.
Especially on point for the SAQ is that in the 1960s a couple of scholars were able to identify 12 of the Federalist Papers as having been written by James Madison, rather than Alexander Hamilton, using the methodology. Maybe Bob could get Paul Chambers to do an interview.
Great idea!
@@Mooseman327 I agree that Bayes Theorem is a useful model for looking at all the evidence supporting de Vere as the author of the plays.
Glad to hear that the effect of Looney on Wolfe's Orlando is recognized --- the spirit of her book definately took substance from Lonney's work.
Woolf? Or Vita's interest therein. VW's notion of Shakespeare is way more complex.
In Is Shakespeare Dead?, Mark Twain argues that asking the question "Was Shakespeare a practicing lawyer?" is all one needs to do to put the Stratfordians out of commission.
Well done, Roger. Mark Alexander
You are most welcome. Thanks for your contributions to the book!
How thoughtful of you to post just in time to give us another thing to be thankful for the Thanksgiving!
These all consuming wars, firstly the 17th century ie Cromwell, then the 20th with WW1 and 2 seem to almost put out the flame and set back scholarship on this giant issue each time.
Even before Looney, "Shakespeare scholars were scared of Shakespeare's legal knowledge." Not to quibble, but something is very wrong with that sentence. True scholars are never scared of relevant new evidence. They welcome it. They should even welcome being proven wrong, whenever their theories are refuted by new information.
So let's say instead that so-called scholars were scared of being embarrassed by evidence that undermines their prejudices, because they had a faith-based commitment to a traditional myth, not to the fearless pursuit of the truth.
Exactly so!
Yes, as you confirmed right there....they were scared, and still are scared... proving to all and sundry that even "distinguished" scholars can be scared by certain ideas. Especially those that undermine years of decorations in the feild, and now unwarranted speculations
Two kinds of people in the world Benvol EOs and Malvol EOs
When did freedom of speech and press begin? Is the publication of the first folio one of the first steps?
It is certainly a key moment in the history of the free press!
@@rstritmatterThe printing of the sonnets is probably even more so!
An "author" is a fake term for the single absolute creator. Creators actually draw on lots of resources, the more the better. Whatever specious sounding arguments might be made about who Shakspear sounds like, the basic reality is: when Shakespeare was published NO ONE thought that was an egregious usurpation of authorship, and the reason was probably that they had a far more nuanced sense of authorship. Shakespeare had editorial control, command over the production, he was the catalyst for the whole very high quality agglomoration being possible and everyone at the time associated that a large number of stunningly thoughtful stagings of plays took place under this guy's name in particular, so whatever his role, writing lines, arranging parts, doing costumes, etc. no one would have cared about Oxfords wordsmithing if Shakspear hadn't put it all together, in the same way Warhol or Koons direct their real creators.
I think you're confused. The Anti-Stratfordians premise includes that the Stratford man almost surely was illiterate. He could barely form letters or sign his name. ALl we have in his handwriting is six signatures. He owned no books. Lastly, his two daughters said he was NOT a poet/writer. Even the #1 Stratfordian - Sir Stanley Wells sayd that there is no evidence from his lifetime that Stratford man was a writer.
Shakspere was not involved in anything except in his role as a broker (plays, sheep, wool, grain) b/c he clearly was successful in business. Possibly Oxford also borrowed money from him. ;) Jonson and other writers turned their noses up when he started adding W.S.'s name to other plays and poems he bought that ARE NOT a part of Shakespeare's Canon today - even though his name is on them. th-cam.com/video/5Ns3rMMobIM/w-d-xo.html