Introduction

The controversy over who really wrote Shakespeare’s plays has been around almost since they were written. Was the genius behind the plays really that obscure glover’s son from Stratford? Or was it someone else entirely—a man whose class, background, education, and peculiarities make him a more than plausible candidate?

In The Which of Shakespeare’s Why, a 21st-century playwright named Harry Haines makes the case for a major contender via a play he himself is writing for a struggling New Jersey theatre company. Faced with strong disapproval from the “Stratfordites” and with the backing of supporters that sometimes takes some unusual forms, Harry attempts, against great odds, to get the play written and staged.

In the process he has to overcome his own doubts, stay on the right side of the right people, keep his romantic life under control, and deal with not only a difficult actress or two but a flock of opinionated Rockettes. Part hilarious farce, part serious critical examination, The Which of Shakespeare’s Why provides a thought-provoking look at a controversial puzzle with a surprising, ingenious, and wholly satisfying ending that Shakespeare—whoever he was—would have given a standing ovation.

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Discussion Questions

From the author:

This book starts out with a discussion by the author of the Shakespeare authorship controversy. What do you think of the author’s position, that Shakespeare could not possibly have been the relatively uneducated man from Stratford, and that the true author of Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets must have been someone better educated?

Did you find the author’s conclusion compelling -- that Edward De Vere, the Earl of Oxford, must have been the author of the plays attributed to Shakespeare?

Did knowing the history of this dispute as set forth by Leigh Light help your reading of the novel that follows?

Which of Shakespeare’s comedies do you think influenced the author of this novel the most?

Do you think that Harry pulls off his play?

Who is your favorite character in this novel?

Have you read Elizabeth Winkler’s Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies: How Doubting the Bard Became the Biggest Taboo in Literature? Why do you think the authorship question is so controversial and makes so many people upset? Does knowing who the author of Shakespeare’s plays make a difference to how you feel about the plays themselves?

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