Who ACTUALLY Wrote Shakespeare's Plays?

Brandon Sanderson and Dan Wells talk about who was most likely to have wrote all of Shakespheres plays.

[hristol]

400 years from now: “Who do you think wrote Sanderson’s books?”

[pastorslant]

"He didn't write so quickly that it's unbelievable."

Sanderson is the expert on that subject.

[paraalso]

The Shakespeare conspiracy is primarily a class-based argument by a bunch of nobles who refused to believe that a "mere commoner" could create such great works of art.

[vineyarddawg]

Shakespeare wrote all but the last 3. Those were written after his death by Brandon Sanderson.

[AMadMage]

After you read enough of Shakespeare’s writing, you’ll find that reading Shakespeare plays is like reading an entirely separate genre of literature. It’s so distinctive that there’s no way that I could see anybody else writing it but the bard himself.

[Arcayenneist]

Shakespeare talking to an audience one day: "Hey guys, while we were all staying indoors during the Bubonic Plague, I accidentally wrote 5 plays no one was expecting."

[jacobtonning]

I totally buy that Shakespeare's players and troupe pitched in and added stuff with him, but the idea that he wasnt the primaey author doesnt hold much water

[zenrythebard]

"He didn't write so quickly that it's unbelievable."

Uhuh, but we sure do know someone with that description.

[jinks]

Not to mention you can see a clear progression and evolution of a writer as you go through the plays chronologically (as best as we can order them). I think that would be an odd thing to see for a group of a dozen or more writers. They would all be at different ages and skill levels so that you could expect a relatively consistent quality and craftsmanship throughout the opus. As Brandon said, it’s honestly far more believable that Shakespeare just wrote really good plays than a conglomerate of writers collectively writing under a single identity.

[BlacksburgEV]

Always such good editing, whoever does these for him, BRAVO.

[paulchavez]

As an actor, it's even easier to see that it's obvious that he wrote what he wrote. There are so many cross-referential little tricks in the meter itself that help actors know how certain passages were intended to be played, and since Shakespeare was at times an actor himself and frequently directing his own plays, of course he'd do that.

[MarlaenIngles]

❤ Hey Brandon, you are so nice and kind. Still I have not read any of your books 😢 but just from watching your videos now I have Mistborn in my endless TBR. Thanks for sharing so much of your writing AND literary knowledge in your videos. Regards from México 😊

[drakeford]

It's also worth noting that a lot of Shakespeare's work was based on pre-existing stories, which he either adapted for the stage or took and put a fresh spin on.

When you understand that he wasn't writing all of his work from absolute scratch, his output becomes a good deal more comprehensible.

And I don't think that downplays the man at all either. Many of his works do seem to be originals, and his writing was absolutely legendary regardless.

[markfigueroa]

I'm no historian, but his voice seems so clear in his work that it has to all be his. Its like saying Quentin Tarantino didn't write his own uniquely styled work. No one else could do it like he did.

[ephraimcullen]

I saw the title and just assumed Brandon was admitting that HE wrote shakespeare's plays 😂

[billyj.causeyvideoguy]

We live in a world where stephen king was pumping out like two books a year in the 80s and each was a banger.

I can believe Shakespeare was one dude.

[HarmonicHewell]

Every english professor I’ve had has confidently said Shakespeare wrote his plays

[MrDawnRise]

It’s almost impossible to overstate how good of a writer Shakespeare was

[Aldrnari]

Last I checked, the academic consensus is that The Lord Chamberlain’s Men had a collaborative writing environment. The writers would all for assistance from each other, provide rewrites and edits, and sometimes likely contribute larger sections of scenes when needed. Its most likely based on the evidence, that the reason some people see evidence for 12 different writers is because there were at least that many people who assisted, gave feedback, or contributed to Shakespeare’s work. In other words, the guy had a really good writing group that helped along the way, but he still deserves the credit for his amazing body of work.

[TrentRyanKatzenberger]

That's just what Big Play wants you to think!