Letters to the editor.

American Theatre, October, 2001

THE MYTHICAL BARD

I applaud Amy Freed ("Who Was That Man?", May/June '01) for her willingness to reexamine her assumptions about Shakespeare. More and more people doubt the traditional myth. There are more than 70 biographical documents for William Shakespeare, showing that he was born, died, sued people and was a theatre businessman. Not one supports the claim that he wrote even a grocery list.

There is still bound to be a period of grieving the loss of a lovely, even inspiring, myth. Freed's attempt to reconstruct some role for the mythical Bard puts her in what Kubler-Ross would call the bargaining state of grieving--right after denial.

I trust that Freed's curiosity and integrity will lead her back to the Earl of Oxford, Edward de...

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