Date/Time
Date(s) - 02/11/2025
12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
Location
The Rose Battersea
On 2 November Dmitry Usenco will speak on Oxfordianism as a Poor Relation of Higher Criticism
Although Jesus of Nazareth and William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon are separated in time by more than fifteen centuries, there is a striking similarity in the ways their personalities have been treated in popular imagination as well as in scholarly mind. For both of them, almost a complete lack of reliable biographical information never prevented their contemporaries and immediate followers from taking their ‘official’ life stories for granted or not caring about their personal lives at all. Yet the advent of modernity (whichever century we choose to date it from) put an end to that naïve complacency. The factual vacuum that had been surrounding those two prominent figures began to be increasingly perceived as a nuisance.
With regard to Jesus, a generally acceptable solution was found relatively quickly in the instance of Higher Criticism – a sophisticated technique that allows its practitioners to gradually push a flesh-and-blood individual into the domain of fiction and myth. With Shakespeare, however, such a relegation from real to virtual has always felt to be more problematic. Nevertheless, it has been attempted with limited success by a minority of scholars who have come to be collectively known as Oxfordians. According to them, ‘Shakespeare’ was just a penname used by someone else who could boast a more detailed biography but somehow wanted to avoid publicity. Various candidates had been tried out for that role until the choice finally fell on Edward de Vere the 17th Earl of Oxford. Yet, convincing as that man may look in that capacity, there is a catch that prevents this theory from reaching a status any higher than that of Higher Criticism’s poor relation. Indeed, while Higher Criticism can safely position itself as a myth-busting mission, with Oxfordianism it may feel more like an attempt to fill up a factual vacuum with a newly created myth.
The main reason advanced by Oxfordians in support of their theory is that a petty usurer and near-maniacal litigator from Stratford simply did not possess sufficient education and life experience to write plays whose title characters often happen to be crowned kings or blood princes. Consequently, they maintain that most of Shakespearean writings are just disguised autobiographies. In other words (and with only some slight simplification) one can say that Oxfordians believe that The Tragedy of Hamlet could not be written by anyone else but the Prince of Denmark himself.
In this talk, Dmitry is going to assess the above claims and hopefully prove that, based on the generally observed patterns of human creativity, Hamlet is the least likely person to write a tragedy about himself. (We obviously have to assume here that this particular Hamlet comes from that part of the multiverse where he could survive his duel with Laertes and later relate his experiences under the alias of Shakespeare – but no one seems to mind such previously unthinkable tricks these days). Demonstrating this may also help us reveal certain inconsistencies inherent to Higher Criticism itself.
Dmitry will give his talk at The Rose Battersea, 74-76 Battersea Bridge Road, London SW11 3AG but the meeting will also be on Zoom see SLPC Zoom Meeting