The Hand D of Thomas More

Barney of The Grateful Web points me here to an article about Ian McKellen and his affinity for the nearly-lost play, Sir Thomas More. Wikipedia says that “Hand D,” presumably the fourth unknown author of the Elizabethan work, is thought to be William Shakespeare by some scholars. The evidence, however, is flimsy at best.

Why do we keep factoring William Shakespeare into our speculations about historical authorships? Why does he always appear in the list of possible engineers of unattributed works? As someone who writes adjacent to the subject of William Shakespeare, I think I have an answer.

People–and their worldly accomplishments–are interesting and worth discussing, no doubt. But when limited to a particular individual, scholars seem to realize quickly that their field of study is very small. There’s only so much you can write about the life of William Shakespeare: where he grew up; who his family members were; how he made his living; what his best accomplishments were; how he died; how he is remembered. Books and books and books can come out of this subject. But it isn’t very long before anyone delving into this subject can feel the walls closing in. What to do when the freshness of the subject is exhausted?

1. Question his authorship.
2. Expand his authorship.
3. Question his sexuality and make a scandal.

And that’s what you see next to all the plays in the Shakespeare section at Barnes & Noble: books on the three subjects above. Over and over again. That’s why Will is on the list of potential contributers to Sir Thomas More when there is little or no evidence to suggest his slightest involvement.

I said that I write about a subject adjacent to William Shakespeare, and that’s correct. To me, the life of the man is secondary to the power of his works. Whether Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare or a hamster wrote Shakespeare, his plays will continue to be performed and modified and reinvented and loved by actors, artists, and audiences everywhere for the foreseeable future of humanity. And that’s something you can keep writing about forever. When will A Midsummer Night’s Dream stop hitting the proverbial streets delighting fresh audiences with new interpretations of a timeless story? Never. And we can all keep talking about it and wondering what it means to our lives, in perpetuity. This is a magazine subscription that will never run out.

So don’t worry whether Will was Hand D. Just thank Hand D for a job well done if you enjoyed reading Sir Thomas More.

[P.S. There is one book in the Shakespeare section that may actually address my field of study: Becoming Shakespeare by Jack Lynch. It purports to explore Will's posthumous journey from being a playwright among many playwrights to being the playwright of Western culture. This isn't about the man, but rather the legacy of his works and the entire genre that they became.]