Posted: 05 August 2022 at 8:34pm | IP Logged | 5
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Mark wrote:
a) as an expert, she never sees that kind of unanimity in any field
Steven: I'd doubt her expertise right away, then, given that there isn't unanimity about Shakespeare's authorship, with increasing attention being given to contributions made by the various collaborators Shakespeare worked with throughout his life on the plays that nevertheless usually bear his name alone. ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------- Mark wrote:
b) she saw the leading Stratfordian "expert" (Shapiro) build his case on a "straw man" argument instead of honestly representing the case for doubt.
Steven: That seems a bit unfair to Shapiro. He doesn't believe the Oxfordian (or Marlovian, or any other Alternative Authorship candidate) position, but he doesn't mis-represent it. Or do you think he does, and, if so, in what way? ------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------- Mark wrote: A degree in literature does not make one a historian.
Steven: No, but it gives one a strong sense of the historical period in which the literature has been produced. It's hard to study Shakespeare and not develop - indeed, to have to develop - an understanding of Elizabethan and Jacobean England, in the same way that studying Austen would entail gaining knowledge about the Regency period, Dickens the Victorian Age, Wilfred Owen, World War One,etc.
Dr Breuning's PhD is in Evolutionary Psychology - it's difficult to see how that increases her literary or historical understanding. ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------- -- Mark wrote: There is no such unanimity in the field of historians.
Steven: ? There are lots of aspects of history that are argued over, true, but there are facts that are agreed upon - indeed, which have to be accepted in order to build one's argument.
Edited by Steven Brake on 05 August 2022 at 8:35pm
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