Shakespeare's name
William." (My italics.) Mr. Greenwood argues that if "Shakspere the
player was known to the world as the author of the plays of
Shakespeare, it does seem extremely remarkable" that Manningham
should have thought it needful to add "Shakespeare's name William."
{0d}
But WAS "Shakspere," or any man, "known to the world as the author of
the plays of Shakespeare"? No! for Mr. Greenwood writes, "nobody,
outside a very small circle, troubled his head as to who the
dramatist or dramatists might be." {0e} To that "very small circle"
we have no reason to suppose that Manningham belonged, despite his
remarkable opinion that Twelfth Night resembles the Menaechmi.
Consequently, it is NOT "extremely remarkable" that Manningham wrote
"Shakespeare's name William," to explain to posterity the joke about
"William the Conqueror," instead of saying, "the brilliant author of
the Twelfth Night play which so much amused me at our feast a few
weeks ago." {0f} "Remarkable" out of all hooping it would have been
had Manningham written in the style of Mr. Greenwood. But Manningham
apparently did not "trouble his head as to who the dramatist or
dramatists might be." "Nobody, outside a very small circle," DID
trouble his poor head about that point. Yet Mr. Greenwood thinks "it
does seem extremely remarkable" that Manningham did not mention the
author.
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