Anonymous Shake-Speare: The Man Behind

William Shakespeare had nothing to do with the actor and moneylender William Shaksper from Stratford-upon-Avon. The man behind the nom de plume "William Shakespeare" was, in fact, a very well-educated aristocrat who often frequented the court of Elizabeth and whose real name was Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford. The dramas of Shakespeare were not written for the Globe Theatre but for the Queen's court. The dramatist Ben Jonson published the Shakespearian works and saw to it that a monument, with a bust of the "marionette dramatist" William Shaksper was erected in the church of Stratford-upon-Avon.