Google’s Academia
An examination of all or most of the vast literary sources that were read or translated and which were the material on which the author based his characters narratives and plots.
Shakespeare’s Astrology
Shakespeare’s references to astrology and their relevance in Elizabethan England.
A Rural Calendar
The latest in my series of articles entitled “A Rural Calendar” which month by month explores the significance of customs and traditions practised by the inhabitants of the British Isles in the past.
Group Dynamics & the Enneagram
My recent paper outlining the forces, personalities and elements that distinguish positive and negative group activity and thought.
Shakespeare’s Music, Song & Dance
Shakespeare’s references to the “Music of the Spheres”, his philosophical and religious views found in his plays and poetry.
Shakespearean Drama
How was Elizabethan drama originally conceived and developed and how does it differ from today’s attempts at staging Shakespeare’s Dramas?
“Shakespeare’s Cornucopia”
The Literary Sources, Dramatic Structures and Synopses of Shakespeare’s Plays.
In Henry IVth Part One and in Henry Vth, the real life circumstances of an anonymous author who left significant clues to his identity and not written by the pseudonymous playwright, William Shakspere.
Shakespeare’s Tarrochi
A series of posts that compares the 22 Tarot Trumps to the plays of William Shakespeare.
Shakespeare’s Almanack
An alternative view of the Festive, Calendrical & Seasonal Cycle of Elizabethan Plays. A study in the Elizabethan festival cycle of dramatic presentations that resonate with time and place or the seasonal round.
A screenplay submission using Shakespeare’s text from plays and poetry to re-define the author’s life as Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford.
A review of the various Tarot decks which are based on a Shakespearean theme that I have reviewed in a series of posts that compares the 22 Tarot Trumps to the plays of William Shakespeare.
Dionysus, The Mythology & Morphology Re-Examined
A re-examination of the elusive Greek God, his symbolism and meaning.
The Christian Kabala of “William Shake-speare”
An Examination of the Allusions and Structures to the Rosicrucian, Cabalist and Alchemical Teachings in William Shakespeare’s Plays and Poetry.
John Florio & the Dark Lady:
The emeritus professor Saul Frampton however has deduced that there are stylistic and linguistic similarities between essays written by John Florio, the Earl of Southampton’s secretary, and the text of some of Shakespeare’s plays. He could therefore have been instrumental as the final and sole editor of the 1623 Folio of Shakespeare plays. John Florio (1545-1625) was born in London the son of an Italian refugee from Sienna but, like the poet John Lyly (the Earl of Oxford’s secretary and author of “Euphues”), he was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford and was briefly in the service of the Earl of Leicester before entering the household of the Earl of Southampton in early 1590’s. It was there that he might have met “William Shakespeare” since the character of Holofernes from “Love’s Labours Lost” tends to resemble him in character.
Reiterating Shakespeare’s Italian Legacy
Stratfordians tend to ignore the amount of Italian drama found in Shakespeare’s 1623 Folio of plays for the simple reason that they are unable to substantiate any visit to Italy by William Shakspere of Stratford-upon-Avon. Nearly half of Shakespeare’s plays have an Italian connection, allusion or reference which some academics have explained by saying he was instructed or mentored in the genre by friends, associates or literary figures such as Giovanni Florio-an Italian born Jew who converted to Christianity.
The Anonymous & Pseudonymous “Shake-speare”
(An Exercise in Forensic Astrology) an attempt to compare the astrological charts of Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford and William Shakspere of Stratford-on-Avon in order to determine who had the education, merit and means to become the world’s greatest poet and playwright that ever lived.
The recent discovery and painstaking research by Professor Matthew Steggle into a letter discovered in a 17th century book archived at Hereford Cathedral Library suggests that Anne Hathaway was not deserted by her husband but lived alongside him at a residence in Trinity Lane, London for over a decade. Leonidas Kazantheos, a passionate Oxfordian outlines the implications to the Shakespeare Authorship Debate of this astounding discovery.
Shakespeare, A Monument Without A Tomb
What evidence is there so far discovered that would confirm that William Shakspere of Stratford-upon-Avon was a poet and playwright? We examine the records in order to substantiate the claims of Stratfordian academics that they have mistaken the Warwickshire Bard to be a poet or playwright and reveal who was more likely to have written plays and poetry that were published in the 1623 Folio.
Malvolio’s Fustian Riddle MOAI
The anagrammatic riddle (MOAI) read by Malvolio in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night has puzzled scholars and researchers for over four centuries, Qudos Academy investigates its possible meaning and purpose in relation to the Authorship Debate and the historical or biographical allusions it contains.
The Folger Shakespeare Forgeries:
This paper discusses the impact that Shakespeare forgeries have on our understanding and appreciation of literature which turns history inside out and back to front. Were these forgeries an attempt to construct a narrative on the life of the author which simply did not exist. These forgeries were intended to fill the vacuum created by the absence of evidence or facts about the life of “Shakespeare” but nevertheless simply enforce the mythopoeia that surrounds creative works of dramatic art. It is also bizarre that these forgeries have a provenance, history and value all of their own.
Freemasons, Rosicrucians & Templars:
Since the mid-2,000’s, Rosslyn Chapel has been propelled into the limelight due largely to Dan Brown’s extremely successful mystery thriller “The Da Vinci Code” and of course the Hollywood movie “The Da Vinci Code” based on the book. Historically, this remains a work of pure fiction although it managed to weave together some of those theories unearthed about the Templars and the Holy Grail that have achieved some credulity in between the 60’s and 80’s. For example, various claims made in the 1980s non-fiction bestseller, “The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail” by Henry Lincoln, co-authored with Michael Baigent, and Richard Leigh. In fact, two of those authors-Baigent and Leigh-unsuccessfully sued Dan Brown for alleged plagiarism in a costly legal action about intellectual property. Despite all his ‘apparent plagiarism’ Dan Brown located the final scene of “The Da Vinci Code” at Rosslyn Chapel, Scotland. The main characters in this remarkable tale, Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu, become engaged in following certain clues that eventually lead them to the chapel as a potential location for the sought after treasure associated with the Holy Grail. However, in the film narrative it seems that Rosslyn had become Nicholas Poussin’s painting depicting the Shepherdess and three shepherds pointing at the inscription on a tomb. Note the landscape features in the background and the shepherd’s leg becomes a feature of the shepherdess.
Shakespeare’s “Sonnets Equation”, True or False:
While the controversial Shakespeare Authorship Contention was in “full swing” towards the beginning of the 21 st century another academic supposition emerged amongst Shakespeare scholars, academics and cryptographers, namely was there any hidden structure, code or cipher contained in the 154 verses of “Shakespeare’s Sonnets”? And furthermore since they were assumed to be of a ‘biographical nature’ if such a pattern might reveal the true identity of the author in the light of the Shakespeare Authorship Controversy itself and finally ‘put it to bed’. Although my maths education was somewhat elementary I turned my attention to see if any “triumphal form” could be deduced numerically from its lines and verses. Sometime in 2016 the author Alan Green came up with a sensational (and I might add fantastical) theory that made some comparison with the number of stone courses of the Great Pyramid of Giza (Khufu’s Pyramid) and the number of verses contained in Shakespeare’s Sonnets. His public announcement coincided with the release of his first book in a series “De-Coding Shakespeare” which was followed by an internet website that was designed to explain the basis of his supposed discoveries and theories.
Piracy, Treachery & Propaganda in the Printing & Publishing Trade:
During the 16th and 17th centuries in England, the publishing, printing and bookbinding trades that supplied much of the theatre scripts and poetry were not in any sense equal to those in Europe (Antwerp, Louvain) in terms of craftsmanship, quality or literary excellence. There were also a great number of books, papers, pamphlets and promptbooks that were illegally produced and therefore escaped the scrutiny of the state censors. The crucial matters of politics, religion, and rivalry between nobility and commons were usually the subject of veiled critique or oblique commentary as well as satire which we are all familiar today in our tabloids and Sunday newspapers. No such facility or communication network was available in Tudor or Stuart periods and the vital role of intelligence networks, spies and information gathering was important when England was severely isolated in Europe, and importantly surrounded by its enemies. In this paper I have presented some evidence that may substantiate the presence of Masonic activity and membership who were closely linked to the aristocracy and indeed to the monarch themselves. Pirated scripts were also a feature of the times reflecting the lack of supervision by the Master of the Revels, the Stationer’s Office and the High Commission.
The Meaning & Symbolism in Art:
In this recent paper, we explore the fascinating parallels between art and alchemy, examining how contemporary art movements transform seemingly worthless materials into profound cultural symbols. We welcome you to read our in-depth analysis of how these artistic expressions resonate with both casual observers and dedicated enthusiasts alike.