Why is there speculation that Shakespeare didn't write the plays?

There are a number of arguments given for Shakespeare not having wrote his plays. All of them spurious.

1. Shakespeare couldn't even write his own name, how he could write some of the best plays in the English language? The evidence given for this is that Shakespeare signed his name differently, sometimes as Shake-speare, sometimes as Shackspeare etc, but the thing is spelling wasn't standardised back then, and neither was printing, and all the other so-called candidates signed their names differently at different times.

2. Shakespeare the son of a glover, wouldn't have had the education needed to write the plays, only an aristocrat could have written the plays. Grammar school education (which shakespeare went to) was good, and he would have learned latin, so he could read old books, so there is that one scratched off.

3. Shakespeare's plays have a large number of scenes set in locations outside of England. Anywhere from the Italian city states to Athens in Greece etc etc. Only an aristocrat could have traveled to all these places. The fact is though that Shakespeare didn't need to travel to these places to write about them. Evidence exists for the amount of money spent on costumes in theatres back then, and for the amount of money that was spent on costumes they could definitely afford to buy books and to hire tutors if they were needed (and there is evidence that they did hire tutors when writing plays).

4. The main argument given comes down to the very modern notion that all books are somehow autobiographical if you look at them closely. That say, Hamlet hated his step Father, etc, so Shakespeare must have hated his Father, that jealousy in Shakespeare's plays most be Shakespeare's jealousy etc etc, and that therefore all the events in his plays don't correspond with what we know about his life. However it is possible to write about things you haven't experienced and also autobiographical writing only became popular in the 19th century.

Lastly if Shakespeare didn't write the plays, why didn't some of the other famous playwrights of the time mention it? However they do talk about Shakespeare. Shakespeare also wrote some plays with other writers, for example Timon of Athens is co-written, considering a playwright was considered a low occupation back then, you can't really see an aristocrat mixing with a playwright. Also Shakespeare wrote lots of his parts for actors that he knew, he would scrawl the name of the actor beside certain lines as if he is thinking this is for this guy etc, an aristocrat wouldn't have mixed with actors, who, were considered the lowest of the low back then.

Has anybody ever thought that another writer of the time may have been involved.

That person, thought to be a British spy and no stranger to the taverns at Bankside and the seedy side of London, born the same year, educated, a street brawler and a boy lover. Just maybe a ghost writer too.

Christopher Marlowe

Some people can't stand that a middle-class person could have been a genius. They claim that he could not have understood the politics that went on in the royal court had he not been a nobleman. However, anyone who attended a guild meeting would have seen blood-thirsty politics and manipulation that would have put Richard III to shame. Mostly, such critics are snobs.

Becuse we can't be certain he wrote all of them. Francis Bacon is sometimes credited - but it is possible that others in his players company contributed to the dramas.

David just got the best answer, lol can people answer mine now? X

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ah...