What if the Rumors were true -- that the first Queen Elizabeth had a love affair with her favorite playwright Edward De Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, and they had a love-child? The Earl took the pen name William Shakespeare to keep the royal secrets, but he left clues in the sonnets, which he dedicated to his natural son, Henry Wriothesley.
We now have enough information to decipher the clues left by the author "William Shakespeare" as to his real identity -- Edward De Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford. We can identify the "Fair Youth" as Henry Wriothesley, the Third Earl of Southampton, to whom Shakespeare's published poems were dedicated. We can identify several rival poets, who were competing for Queen Elizabeth's favor, not for the favors of a young earl or a patron. We can identify a dark lady who bore a son to De Vere out of wedlock -- Ann Vavasor. But other sonnets were written to a lady with dark eyes, probably Queen Elizabeth in her darker moods. And we can now decipher the puzzling message in the famous Dedication to the Sonnets published in 1609.
Excerpt
The message is encrypted, as it would have had to be, in order to escape the spymasters, censors, enemies, and meddlers that controlled every published word in Elizabethan England. But for those who can solve the riddle, for those who can recognize symbols used by Freemasons and Rosicrucians, here is the message that the greatest author in all English oiterature wished to convey to his natural son in dedicating a book of sonnets to him:
To Mr. W.H., or H.W. [Henry Wriothesley]: You are a child of love . . . This little book of sonnets is your legacy, the only legacy your true father can offer you in secret, but my poetic praise of your great worth might attain that unique immortality that only ever-living literature can confer." . . . Your devoted father, E.O. (Edward Oxenford)
Professional Reviews
Fascinating Reading
Gordon's interpretations of the sonnets are often more sympathetic to our life experiences and common sense than some I've seen. At-times-dizzying new interpretations of the sonnets and the Shakespeare conundrum . . .Gordon's close reading of the sonnets sometimes contrasts with other new theories, sometimes agrees or even augments them. .. Her explication of the notoriously opaque introduction to the Sonnets compels attention despite our reflexive distrust of ciphers and anagrams. -- Wenonah Sharpe, Oxfordian Scholar
Paraphrases of Sonnets Helpful
I wish I'd had Helen Gordon's book when I was teaching Shakespeare to high school students. They would have found the paraphrases extremely helpful and the love story strongly compelling. Her insightful commentaries on the sonnets are both enjoyable and revealing. They certainly cast new light on Shakespeare's Sonnets with unusual, refreshing interpretations. -- Karen Whicker Ellis, English teacher
Exciting Love Story
I was entranced by the Secret Love Story in Shakespeare's Sonnets. I found it hard to put down, as I couldn't wait to discover what was idden in the next sonnet! Even readers who are not well-versed in Shakespearean literature will enjoy this intriguing, encrypted love story.
