A full account of Shakespeare's life does not exist. It is commonly accepted that he was born in 1564, and it is known that he was baptized in Stratford-upon-Avon (Hieatt, 1998). Many doubt the literacy of his relatives:

Shakespeare's whole family were illiterate. He was the first of his race we know of who was able to read and write. His father and mother, grandfathers and grandmothers, aunts and cousins--all signed their names, on the few occasions when they were obliged to sign them, with crosses. His daughter Judith could not read or write. The whole population around them w

ere in the same condition....It would indeed be a miracle if out of this vulgar, dirty, illiterate family came the greatest genius, the profoundest thinker, the broadest scholar that has adorned the annals of the human race (Hope, 1992, p. 48) .

This education and this tie to royalty do prove to be interesting clues to the mystery.

When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang

Showing their birth, and where they did proceed (Bethell, 1991)."

Sometime around 1595, Sonnet 73 was written with a text contained it that read:

Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, was born on 12 April, 1550, at Castle Hedingham in Essex (Edward de Vere, n.d.). He was fourteen years older than Shakespeare of Stratford (Martin, 1965). A definite gift for poetic writing revealed itself early in him, says Martin, and by the time he was twenty-six years old he had written, and circulated in manuscript form, some lovely short poems of which twenty-two have survived (1965). His father died when he was young so Edward was then placed in the home of Lord Burghley, who, for 40 years, had been the Queen's Principal Secretary of State and later Lord Treasurer (Edward de Vere, n.d.).

In referring back to Sonnet 73, which talks of a man who is getting old, one finds that Oxford would have been 45 at the time this was written; the Stratford man, about 26. Also, the comments praising Shakespeare in a way that made the author seem dead, were written between 1607 and 1609, which was seven to nine years after Oxford's death. The Stratford man was still alive.

Some common words found in the essay are:
William Shakespeare, Stratford-upon-Avon Hieatt, Burghley Elizabeth's, Oxford Hamlet, William Barksted, Stratford Martin, Burghley Edward, Sigmund Freud, Earl Oxford, Shakespeare Stratford-upon-Avon, bethell 1991, de vere, edward de, edward de vere, lord burghley, de vere nd, vere nd, william shakespeare, read write, hope 1992, hieatt 1998, sonnet 73,
Approximate Word count = 1409
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)