Much Ado About Something

For two hundred years, rumour and mystery have swirled around the name of Shakespeare. Was he educated enough to have written the masterpieces that carry his name? Many impressive minds have said no, but no one has yet been able to deliver the knockout blow to the Bard. Shakespeare stays shakily on his pedestal and the mystery remains. But now something is changing. His supporters are less sure of themselves, and the alternative candidates are being taken more seriously. The most interesting challenger is Christopher Marlowe, spy, atheist, and great poet, born in the same year as Shakespeare. The main problem with Marlowe’s candidacy is that he’s dead too early, killed in a fight before most of Shakespeare’s plays were written. But was he really killed?