Shakespeare Officially Made a Co-Author on Three Plays

William Shakespeare is no stranger to controversy with scholars debating whether he wrote the plays under his name or whether he partnered with someone else. There's a whole Wikipedia section on the debate. Some claim Shakespeare didn't write any of his plays. While this has been a theory among only fringe scholars up until now, Oxford University Press has waded into the fight by announcing that its new edition of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare will credit Christopher Marlowe as a co-author on three of Shakespeare's plays.


Your next question might be "Who's Christopher Marlowe?" Christopher Marlowe was an English playwright, poet and translator, considered the foremost Elizabethan tragedian of his time. He was known to be great influence on William Shakespeare, who only came to become the top Elizabethan playwright after Marlowe's death.

Apparently, the decision that Marlowe co-wrote Shakespeare's Henry VI plays is based on new research and analysis. Obviously, this was a controversial decision, because Oxford University is the first major publishing house to name Marlowe as co-author on any of Shakespeare's plays. It certainly sheds new light and questions Shakespeare's fame.

What do you think of this decision? Let me know in the comments

[via NPR]

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