A controversial new book by feminist historian Irene Coslet asserts that William Shakespeare was not the author of the famous plays and sonnets attributed to him. Instead, the book argues that the true writer was Emilia Bassano Willoughby, a Black, covertly Jewish woman of Moroccan descent. The claim has drawn intense debate in academic and literary circles.
Coslet’s forthcoming book, The Real Shakespeare: Emilia Bassano Willoughby, builds on earlier authorship theories and reinterprets historical records through what she describes as critical and feminist theory. Her premise is that history has traditionally been written by “hegemonic Western” voices — predominantly white men — which she believes has erased or minimized the contributions of marginalized individuals. Coslet suggests that Bassano’s identity was suppressed and her literary work was published under Shakespeare’s name as a pen-name due to societal bias and restrictions on women writers in Elizabethan England.
The author points to Bassano’s upbringing — daughter of a Venetian court musician and connected to Elizabethan court circles — as evidence that she had the education and cultural exposure necessary to write such works. Coslet says the traditional narrative that Shakespeare was a “semi-illiterate” man of modest background who produced unmatched literary genius strains credibility and requires reexamination.
Critics, however, remain strongly skeptical. Mainstream Shakespeare scholars — including directors of major Shakespeare research institutes — reject the new claims as circumstantial and lacking documentary evidence. They stress that no contemporary records from the period dispute Shakespeare’s authorship, and historical documentation supports his life and career as an actor and playwright from Stratford-upon-Avon. One prominent scholar described the Bassano theory as elegant but essentially a story without basis in concrete archival proof.
Historical records show Shakespeare’s works were well known and attributed to him in print during his lifetime, and his colleagues and rivals recognized him as a preeminent writer. Ben Jonson, a contemporary playwright and critic, praised Shakespeare as a literary genius “for all time” while Shakespeare was still living — a recognition difficult to dismiss lightly.
This latest claim joins a long list of Shakespeare authorship theories, which have included suggestions ranging from Christopher Marlowe to the Earl of Oxford. Most scholars regard such theories as marginal and not supported by the documented historical record.
