Was Shakespeare fake

Answer 1

No. You see, what we start with is a number of publications of play scripts as well as contemporary anecdotes and diary entries about those plays. These plays were said to have been written by William Shakespeare. Was there a real person called William Shakespeare? Yes, no question. Was he a real actor? Yes, lots of people seem to have recorded that fact. Did he act in the same company that the publishers of the plays did? Yes, unquestionably. Was his name associated with these plays as well as various poems during his lifetime as the author? Yes, and by a lot of different people, too.

So Shakespeare is not a fake in the sense that Lemony Snicket is a fake--the author of his plays and poems did not invent a fake person to name as the author. William Shakespeare was a real person, and a well-known one to boot. It is one thing to use a fake name as a pen-name (like Lemony Snicket) if your real name is Daniel Handler, but another altogether for Daniel Handler to write A Series of Unfortunate Events by J.K. Rowling. You can be sure that Ms. Rowling would raise a stink about that. And in fact the real William Shakespeare did raise a stink about people publishing other people's poetry and claiming that it was written by him.

Answer 2

Essentially, yes. Shakespeare based his play either directly or indirectly on a translation of a "History of the Danes" written by Saxo Germanicus. The events in the play are, however, quite different from the story of Amleth in Saxo, although one can see the similarities. And in any event, many people would say that Saxo was writing legends, not real history.

Answer 3

William Shakespeare was a real person. He was not a fiction. You can go and visit his grave in Stratford if you like.

As to whether the things which Shkespeare wrote are fiction or not, the answer is both. The history plays and the Roman plays Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra are based fairly closely on real historical events although events have been telescoped for dramatic reasons and the biases and errors of his sources have been carried forward. Macbeth is also based on a historical person, although the facts of his life were not as Shakespeare shows them. King Lear, Cymbeline and Hamlet are based on legendary history, about as historical as the story behind Troilus and Cressida. The other plays are pure fiction.

Answer 4

umm yeah, william shakespeare was a real guy, in england in the 16th century.