Did edward de vere write William Shakespeare plays?

Answer 1

Most people think not.

That a man called William Shakespeare was born and died in Stratford-upon-Avon, that he was involved in some manner with members of the playing company, The Lord Chamberlain's Men, later the King's Men, is not disputed. In 1623 the first folio of Shakespeare's works was published, with dedicatory letters allegedly written by John Hemminges and William Condell, two associates of the King's Men, identifying "Shakespeare" as the author.

Since this question is about Edward de Vere, however, and not about the conventional author (about whom much can be read elsewhere), let us consider some of the reasons why many persons have concluded that the orthodox account is erroneous and that de Vere was in fact the real author.

Perhaps the foremost reason is that so many of de Vere's known experiences seem uncannily reflected in the plays and poems published under the name "Shakespeare." Space does not permit a complete analysis, but these include such facts as that de Vere was lamed, and the author of the Sonnets speaks of himself as lame; de Vere was raised in the household of William Cecil Lord Burghley, after his father died when he was 12 years of age. Cecil is thought by many scholars to be the historical prototype for the character of Polonius in Hamlet. De Vere was unhappily married to the daughter of his legal guardian Anne Cecil, and advocates of the Oxfordian view, such as Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, argue that this unfortunate liaison is mirrored in Hamlet's conflicted relations with Ophelia.

Answer 2

Basically, no. If the Earl of Oxford had written a play, there was no reason for him to attribute it to William Shakespeare or any other real living person. He could have easily presented it as an anonymous play as all other aristocratic playwrights did. Still less would he have given his plays to the Lord Chamberlain's Men to perform when he had his own company of players, Oxford's Men. And of course, there is the problem that Oxford died in 1604, and it didn't stop the stream of new Shakespeare plays being brought out by what was then the King's Men.
At the heart of the desire for some people to attribute the work of Shakespeare to someone else are a number of emotional factors. One is the erroneous belief that authors can only write about matters within their own personal experience. This argument was strongly advanced by the anti-Stratfordian Mark Twain, the author of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Once it is realized that many authors write convincingly about matters which are not within their experience, then the presence or absence of correspondences between an author's work and his or her life become completely and utterly irrelevant.