UPDATE: The contest's two winners have been notified. Congratulations to both! And thank you to all who entered the contest. See the Facebook page ShakesVere for more.
The first place winner received a free DVD or Blu-Ray copy of the newly released historical thriller Anonymous. (Winner's choice of DVD or Blu-Ray, whatever works for your home video setup.)
Second place is a copy of Anonymous's companion book.
So what is Anonymous? It's a fantastical historical rollercoaster ride based on the epic life and very Shakespearean times of Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford. As Rex Reed wrote in the New York Observer
Shakespeare may be the most performed playwright in the history of letters, but in 400 years not one original script has been found in his own handwriting. When he died at 52, survived by an illiterate wife and daughter, he left behind in his will no mention of a single manuscript. In Anonymous, an obvious labor of love for director Roland Emmerich, the culprit is identified as Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, a wealthy aristocrat who could not attach his real name to works of lusty romance, tragedy and political intrigue because they lampooned prominent members of the court. ... I found it a complex cornucopia of ideas and panache. You go away sated.
Or as Morgan Freeman told USA Today, "Have you seen Anonymous? Oh, don't miss that one. Do. Not. Miss. Anonymous. Another well-made movie; very well-done."
Of course, Anonymous is also a glorious piece of Hollywood filmmaking -- which means it sometimes takes some liberties. This blog, while unreservedly recommending the movie, has chronicled a few.
To really delve into de Vere's tremendous depth and epic, page-turning life -- with its rich network of connections between de Vere's life and the "Shakespeare" works -- Edward de Vere's literary biography, "Shakespeare" by Another Name is the book to read.
Just a few months ago "Shakespeare" by Another Name was released as an ebook, and less than the price of a movie ticket will open a whole new world of connections to the greatest plays ever written.
In the words of some prominent journalists and reviewers, SBAN is a gripping and controversial alternative biography of the Bard that "deserves serious attention."[1] The book "makes a compelling argument,"[2] "quite a compelling argument"[3] that is "especially impressive."[4]
[1] The New York Times
[2] USA Today
[3] The Chicago Sun-Times
[4] The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
6 comments:
A contest! Win a free DVD or Blu-Ray of the movie Anonymous. To enter, just share this link with your network on Facebook. Winners announced Friday, Feb. 10.
(Sorry to repeat myself in the comment field... Facebook is wonky about the text it picks up to link with... So I had to make a thumbnail summary of this blog entry as the first "comment.")
Good Blog About "Shakespeare" By Another Name.
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Well, here's a question prompted by both the reticence of your book on the subject of the homoeroticism implicit in many of the Sonnets, as well as by the emphasis put by the "Prince Tudor" theory (as exemplified in the recent "Anonymous" film) on possible paternal feelings as expressed in a number of De Vere's works, beside the Sonnets. It was asked of me yesterday, as I was explaining the premise of the film, and of the "Prince Tudor" theory: do you honestly believe that same-sex passion evinced by De Vere in those works can be accounted for by describing it as the most intense of paternal feelings, and, if not, why have you failed to give much attention to De Vere's romantic attractions in your book, considering that most modern biographers consider their subjects affectional and sexual orientations to be such significant aspects of their subjects' nature?
Well, here's a question prompted by both the reticence of your book on the subject of the homoeroticism implicit in many of the Sonnets, as well as by the emphasis put by the "Prince Tudor" theory (as exemplified in the recent "Anonymous" film) on possible paternal feelings as expressed in a number of De Vere's works, beside the Sonnets. It was asked of me yesterday, as I was explaining the premise of the film, and of the "Prince Tudor" theory: do you honestly believe that same-sex passion evinced by De Vere in those works can be accounted for by describing it as the most intense of paternal feelings, and, if not, why have you failed to give much attention to De Vere's romantic attractions in your book, considering that most modern biographers consider their subjects affectional and sexual orientations to be such significant aspects of their subjects' nature?
Not enough is known about Oxford's relationship with Southampton, in my opinion, to merit the kind of speculation called for here. It's a subject of research today, and I look forward I hope to being able to fill some of those empty spaces in in future editions of the book. But to me the conjecture that Oxford was "Shakespeare" -- without delving into the thorny questions about the fair youth of the Sonnets -- provided more than enough speculative material while still keeping the book tightly focused on the cradle-to-grave, factual life story of the man who arguably wrote these great works.
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