Shakespeare, Bacon and the Great Unknown | Page 3

well read in the technicalities of our law; he never seems to
have seriously followed his profession." {0a}
Now we have Mr. Greenwood's testimonial in favour of Mr. Castle,
"Who really does know something about law." {0b} Mr. Castle thinks
that Bacon really did not know enough about law, and suggests Sir
Edward Coke, of all human beings, as conceivably Will's "coach" on
legal technicalities. Perhaps Will consulted the Archbishop of
Canterbury on theological niceties?
Que scais je? In some plays, says Mr. Castle, Will's law is all right, in
other plays it is all wrong. As to Will's law, when Mr. Greenwood and
Mr. Castle differ, a layman dare not intervene.
Concerning legend and tradition about our Will, it seems that, in each
case, we should do our best to trace the Quellen, to discover the
original sources, and the steps by which the tale arrived at its late
recorders in print; and then each man's view as to the veracity of the
story will rest on his sense of probability; and on his bias, his wish to
believe or to disbelieve.

There exists, I believe, only one personal anecdote of Will, the actor,
and on it the Baconians base an argument against the contemporary
recognition of him as a dramatic author. I take the criticism of Mr.
Greenwood (who is not a Baconian). One John Manningham,
Barrister-at-Law, "a well-educated and cultured man," notes in his
Diary (February 2, 1601) that "at our feast we had a play called Twelve
Night or What you Will, much like the Comedy of Errors, or
Menaechmi in Plautus, but most like and near to that in Italian called
Inganni." He confides to his Diary the tricks played on Malvolio as "a
good practice." {0c} That is all.
About the authorship he says nothing: perhaps he neither knew nor
cared who the author was. In our day the majority of people who tell
me about a play which they have seen, cannot tell me the name of the
author. Yet it is usually printed on the playbill, though in modest type.
The public does not care a straw about the author's name, unless he be
deservedly famous for writing letters to the newspapers on things in
general; for his genius as an orator; his enthusiasm as a moralist, or in
any other extraneous way. Dr. Forman in his queer account of the plot
of "Mack Beth" does not allude to the name of the author (April 20,
1610). Twelfth Night was not published till 1623, in the Folio: there
was no quarto to enlighten Manningham about the author's name. We
do not hear of printed playbills, with author's names inserted, at that
period. It seems probable that occasional playgoers knew and cared no
more about authors than they do at present. The world of the wits, the
critics (such as Francis Meres), poets, playwrights, and players, did
know and care about the authors; apparently Manningham did not. But
he heard a piquant anecdote of two players and (March 13, 1601)
inserted it in his Diary.
Shakespeare once anticipated Richard Burbage at an amorous tryst with
a citizen's wife. Burbage had, by the way, been playing the part of
Richard III. While Will was engaged in illicit dalliance, the message
was brought (what a moment for bringing messages!) that Richard III
was at the door, and Will "caused return to be made that William the
Conqueror was before Richard III. Shakespeare's name William." (My
italics.) Mr. Greenwood argues that if "Shakspere the player was

known to the world as the author of the plays of Shakespeare, it does
seem extremely remarkable" that Manningham should have thought it
needful to add "Shakespeare's name William." {0d}
But WAS "Shakspere," or any man, "known to the world as the author
of the plays of Shakespeare"? No! for Mr. Greenwood writes, "nobody,
outside a very small circle, troubled his head as to who the dramatist or
dramatists might be." {0e} To that "very small circle" we have no
reason to suppose that Manningham belonged, despite his remarkable
opinion that Twelfth Night resembles the Menaechmi. Consequently, it
is NOT "extremely remarkable" that Manningham wrote
"Shakespeare's name William," to explain to posterity the joke about
"William the Conqueror," instead of saying, "the brilliant author of the
Twelfth Night play which so much amused me at our feast a few weeks
ago." {0f} "Remarkable" out of all hooping it would have been had
Manningham written in the style of Mr. Greenwood. But Manningham
apparently did not "trouble his head as to who the dramatist or
dramatists might be." "Nobody, outside a very small circle," DID
trouble his poor head about that point. Yet Mr. Greenwood thinks "it
does seem extremely remarkable" that Manningham did not mention
the author.
Later, on the publication of