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An '''Oxfordian''' is someone who denies that [[Shakespeare]] -- the author of the greatest plays in history -- was a common man of ordinary roots and upbringing.

An '''Oxfordian''' is someone who supports the Oxfordian Theory of Shakespeare Authorship - the revisionist theory that: a) Edward DeVere, 17th Earl of Oxford, was the actual author of the works traditionally attributed to Shakespeare of Stratford, and: b) that the Stratford man was most likely a "front man" or "play broker", as well a business man and part-time actor.  While there have been many alternative candidates proposed for the authorship for Shakespeare's works, since the early 1920s, the Oxfordian theory has predominated.<ref>Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, 2007 , url=http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9374297/Edward-de-Vere-17th-earl-of-Oxford</ref><ref name="usnews">{{cite news | last = Satchell | first = Michael | title=Hunting for good Will: Will the real Shakespeare please stand up?| publisher =''U.S. News & World Report'' | date = 2000-07-24 | url=http://www.usnews.com/usnews/doubleissue/mysteries/shakespeare.htm| accessdate=2007-08-31}}</ref><ref>McMichael, George and Edgar M. Glenn. ''Shakespeare and his Rivals: A Casebook on the Authorship Controversy.'' Odyssey Press, 1962. p. 159.</ref> The subject has attracted wide attention and a thriving following, including some prominent public figures, but is dismissed by the great majority of academic Shakespeare scholars.  

An Oxfordian instead insists that a nobleman wrote the plays (and poems) under the stage name of "Shakespeare". Typically the nobleman identified under this theory is Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, who lived between 1550 and 1604. Note, however, that a few of Shakespeare's works postdate the death of this Earl.

Oxfordians point to the acclaim of Oxford's contemporaries regarding his talent as a poet and a playwright, his reputation as a concealed poet, and his personal connections to London theatre and the contemporary playwrights of Shakespeare's day. They also note his long term relationships with [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth I]] and Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton|, his knowledge of Court life, his extensive and multilingual education, his academic and cultural achievements, and his wide-ranging travels through France and Italy to what later became the locations of many of Shakespeare's plays.

 

The case for Oxford's authorship is also based on perceived similarities between Oxford's biography and events in Shakespeare's plays, sonnets and longer poems; parallels of language, idiom, and thought between Oxford's personal letters and the Shakespearean canon;<ref>Fowler, William Plumer. [http://ruthmiller.com/revealed.htm ''Shakespeare Revealed in Oxford's Letters.''] Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Peter E. Randall, 1986.</ref> and underlined passages in Oxford's personal [[Bible]], which Oxfordians believe correspond to quotations in Shakespeare's plays.<ref>Stritmatter, Roger A. [http://www.shakespearefellowship.org/virtualclassroom/bibledissabsetc.htm "The Marginalia of Edward de Vere's Geneva Bible: Providential Discovery, Literary Reasoning, and Historical Consequence"] (PhD diss., University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 2001). Partial reprint at ''The Shakespeare Fellowship''.</ref>

 

Confronting the theory's strongest criticism -  the issue of Oxford's death in 1604 - Oxfordian researchers cite examples they say imply the writer known as "Shakespeare" or "Shake-speare" died before 1609, and point to 1604 as the year regular publication of "new" or "augmented" Shakespeare plays stopped.

 

While the great majority of the academic community continues to endorse the traditional attribution, the authorship question has achieved some degree of acceptance as a legitimate research topic. In late 2007, Brunel University of London began offering a one-year MA program on the Shakespeare authorship question,<ref>Online course catalogue: Shakespeare Authorship Studies MA, accessed 6/14/10 | http://www.brunel.ac.uk/courses/pg/cdata/s/shakespeareauthorshipstudiesma</ref>and in 2010, Concordia University (Portland, Oregon) opened a multi-million dollar Shakespeare Authorship Research Centre, under the direction of authorship doubter Daniel Wright, a Shakespeare scholar and Concordia's professor of English.<ref>''= Who Wrote the Works Attributed to William Shakespeare? Academics Officially Challenge... =, Business Wire, April 23 2007, accessed 6/14/10| http://www.allbusiness.com/services/business-services/4322743-1.html; http://www.authorshipstudies.org/library/index.cfm</ref>