On Shakespeare and Reasonable Doubt

A "Declaration of Reasonable Doubt" (Guardian, 9 September) is the latest reminder of the persistence of controversy over who wrote Shakespeare. But the skeptics' case depends on a logical slip. The starting point is always some close variant of the claim that while Shakspere (a common spelling outside theatrical contexts) was alive no one identified him as the author. "A great mystery lies before you," reads the Declaration. "How could William 'Shakspere' of Stratford have been the author William Shakespeare and leave no definitive evidence of it that dates from his lifetime?" And indeed, while Shakspere lived no one explicitly identified him as the author. But no one explicitly doubted it either. So perhaps, as the skeptics argue, no one thought Shakspere was Shakespeare, so no one was moved to say he was. On the other hand, perhaps no one explicitly said he was because no one doubted he was. And it is not hard to see which side of this disjunction must be right.