s Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (the work now known as the First Folio) (Midsummer Night's Dream xxxii). Everything beyond this is myth and legend, which most certainly adds to the attraction of his works. His brilliant writing can only be enhanced by the mystery surrounding his life.
             The question is, was it really his brilliant writing? Many theories exist regarding who the author really is, with over eighty Elizabethans put forward since the middle of the eighteenth century as the "true Shakespeare," including Queen Elizabeth herself. Only four have merited serious consideration, though: Sir Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe, William Stanley (Sixth Earl of Derby), and Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford (Shakespeare-Oxford). For the sake of space, (and personal preference), this paper will focus on the possibility of de Vere's authorship, as well as the limitations on Shakespeare's tru
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