and parodies of politicians and courtiers.” In addition, public theatres such as the Globe were laced with prostitutes, drunkards and criminals and because of the scoundrel audiences, playwrights were held in low esteem. Moreover, many scholars believe de Vere’s reasons for his pseudonym may be linked to the homoerotic threads in many of the Shakespearean sonnets and de Vere’s possible homosexual affair with his son-in-law. Using his identity would have been a dangerous game when such affairs were a high crime (Satchell 71).There are many allusions in Shakespeare’s plays which de Vere would have been particularly familiar with. As a child, de Vere was tutored by Arthur Golding, the translator of Metamorphoses. This literary work was alluded to several times in Shakespearean plays. De Vere also studied law and traveled across the continent, spending a great deal of time in Italy (Tweedale 12). Many references to Italian art and architecture are also alluded to in Shakespeare’s plays. William Shakespeare of Stratford, however, never left England (Friedman 10).The author of the Shakespearean plays had to possess a rare knowledge in several disciplines including physical sciences, medicine, he law, astronomy, and the Bible. Shakes of Stratford received no formal education with the exception of grammar school through the equivalent of third grade. De Vere, however, was taught by only the best tutors (Satchell 71). The Shakespearean plays were also written by one who has had interaction with the aristocracy and understood the workings of royalty from the inside out (Friedman 10). Although there is no evidence that Shakespeare moved freely about this society, de Vere was regarded as a “brilliant ornament of Elizabeth’s court” (Sachmartino 13) and as such would have understood what it as like to live in the aristocracy.De Vere’s very life is in many ways represented in the plays...
