Every year, teachers explain that greatness of William Shakespeare to school-children, however many teachers fail to mention that William Shakespeare may not have actually written any of the works that the literary world attributes to him. This fact troubles many; for if Shakespeare did not write the works, then knowing who did holds great importance; not only for honoring the right person with such genius, but also, to interpret the works correctly. Knowing that Shakespeare based Hamlet upon on actual people elevates the play from being just another imagine court tale to being a complex satirical story (Anderson ¶20). For the past two hundred years, scholars, historians, psychiatrists, and other writers have grappled with the riddle of who authored the plays and sonnets. One writer from the 17th century, John Davies, referred to Shakespeare as 'our English Terrence.' This statement alludes to the Renaissance idea that Terrence acted as a stenographer for the upper-class comedian Scipio, meaning that Davies thought of Shakespeare as nothing more than someone who took another's dictation (Anderson ¶10). To understand the disagreement over Shakespeare's authorship, his insufficient education, lack of contemporary evidence, and other possible authors must be considered.
             The broad spectrum of topics alluded to in Shakespearean plays and sonnets has baffled scholars for years. As one writers says, "The dramatist has been thoroughly grounded in Latin and Greek; he has been a soldier, a sailor, a law student, a musician, and an enthusiast for the theater" (Benezet 15). This vast spread of knowledge then begs the question of how a businessman from Stratford could have known enough to be at least competent in all the mentioned areas. Many of Shakespeare's admirer's claim him as a participant of their respective fields. One lawyer, Edmund Malone, says that based upon the legal lang...