humanities.lit.authors.shakespeare

On Mar 10, 10:29=EF=BF=BDam, Tom Veal wrote:
> On Mar 9, 9:27 pm, bookb...@yahoo.com wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > Mary (Sidney) Herbert, Countess of Pembroke (1561-1621),
> > from atwww.mayrysydney.com.
>
> > (quote)
> > =EF=BF=BDUnlike every other proposed authorship candidate, Mary Sidney h=
as no
> > anomaly (like being dead) that needs an elaborate explanation to
> > justify. Everything about her fits neatly and remarkably into the
> > authorship of the Shakespearean plays and sonnets--she is the most
> > articulate, literate, educated, and motivated writer of the times with
> > hundreds of connections to the source materials of the plays, and her
> > love life matches the sonnet story. Because she was a woman, however,
> > she was not allowed to write plays for the public theater.
> > (unquote)
>
> > Here are some other leading attributes of Mary Herbert I find that
> > rank her a significant candidate to have written the canon.
>
> > 1. =EF=BF=BDShe was an especially talented Renaissance Woman, allowed to=
be as
> > accomplished as Queen Elizabeth in languages, sports, musical
> > instruments, medical training, and mathematics. =EF=BF=BDShe knew John D=
ee,
> > studied symbolic geometry and alchemy, and wrote letters to friends in
> > musical code.
>
> > 2. She, like Bacon, had literary goals for England.
> > =EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD a. =EF=BF=BDShe completed and published her brother,=
Phillip Sydney,
> > =EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD signal works on The Defense of Poetry, etc..
> > =EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD a. =EF=BF=BDShe was patron of the most important lit=
erary circle in
> > =EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD English history: the Wilton Circ=
le.
> > =EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD b. =EF=BF=BDShe is known to have influenced Donne, M=
arvell, Herebert, and
> > =EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD Milton, although seemingly not S=
hakespeare.
>
> > 3. =EF=BF=BDShe was the first woman to publish a play in English, publis=
h
> > =EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD original dramatic verse, and not apologize for publi=
shing her =EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD
> > =EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD work.
>
> > 4. =EF=BF=BDScholars find links to Shakespeare in the sonnets and FF,
> > =EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD and her work is known to be used as a source in the =
canon. =EF=BF=BD
>
> > I suppose Mary Herbert is seldom mentioned at h.l.a.s. because her
> > case for consideration of authorship of the canon is so superior to
> > the usual suspects that she embarrasses other pretensions. =EF=BF=BDIt m=
ight
> > be fun to advance her piece on the attributions gameboard by
> > mentioning some arguments scholars have debated over the years.
>
> > bookburn
>
> The "anomaly" is that evidence survives concerning Mary Sidney
> Herbert's taste in drama, both in her own translations and her
> brother's writings. Those tastes are distinctly non-Shakespearean. Two
> lesser, but perhaps significant, points are her residence well away
> from London and her husband's enmity toward the Earl of Essex, to whom
> Shakespeare pays tribute in "Henry V".
>
> Oh, and one might want to take note of the works that the countess
> left behind under her own name, which aren't wretched (better than the
> Earl of Oxenford's poetry) but scarcely of the Bard's caliber and
> infused with a conventional Protestant piety that he never displayed.

MM:
I basically agree with what you've written. Masters have one thing in
common, they come to teach us the truth about our relationship with
the Creator, and to take us Home. That is what makes them great. For
example, hypothetically we could have two Masters and they are both
bricklayers. One might be a better bricklayer than the other. Still,
they would be equal from a spiritual POV. I know that we are
discussing authorship, here, but I just wanted to point out that both,
Mary Sidney and Shakespeare, were more than just writers.

Mary Sidney Herbert was a Holy Lady, and she was constantly obeying
the Supreme Being. That could have been the reason for the
"Protestant Piety," angle in her works. After all, from the Creator's
POV, the comedies and tragedies angle had been pretty well-covered by
Marlowe, and I know we're discussing the canon of Shakespeare, as
well.

Masters can have different talents, but be equal spiritually. For
example, Bacon had a talent with science. They just use their talents
to the max in order to carry out the Lord's work. Donne had his
talents, and Aemilia Lanyer had hers.

Michael Martin