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SHAKESPEARE: TRUE AUTHOR OR PHONY?

In //Othello,// Othello is considered a Moor who is madly in love with Desdemona. He was very close with the Duke and goes to war and brings Desdemona with him. However, a similar play, //Hecatommithi//, written by Giraldi Cinthio, already existed for over forty years before //Othello// was published. Cinthio's story has many of the same details, plot and characters.

**In //Hecatommithi//, Cinthio referred to the main character as a "Venetian Moor" who was a great fighter, loved by the Duke and married to a woman named Disdemona.** Just like in Othello, ** //Hecatommithi's// version of the two characters described them as "[living] in such harmony and peace in Venice that no word ever passed between them that was not affectionate and kind .**

The Moor went to battle in Cyprus and, just like Othello, **had a friend who was a "handsome figure, but of the most depraved nature in the world", known as Ensign. The handsome friend fell in love with the Moor's wife, but she did not love him back.** In Othello, we have Iago who started spreading rumors saying that the handsome Cassio was having an affair with Desdemona, which was completely untrue. **In //Hecatommithi//, Disdemona was very close with the Ensign's wife,** just like Desdemona is close with Iago's wife, Emilia. **There was a Captain in the Moor's troop who greatly appreciated the Moor and vice versa and Disedemona "for this cause, knowing how much her husband valued him, showed him proofs of the greatest kindness".** Now, **the Ensign who was in love with Disdemona did not dare to declare his love for her because he thought the Moor would kill him.**

After reading //Othello// (1604) and //Hecatommithi// (1565), comparing the two is inevitable. The similarities are obvious, and bring up many questions of which is the original author. William Shakespeare is known for his talent of play writing, specifically, Othello, which is yet another work of art, in his gallery of scripts. However, due to the lack of copyright laws in this time period, Shakespeare was wrongfully given credit for Giraldi Cinthio's work. So the question becomes, what will it take to give Cinthio the credit he deserves? How has William Shakespeare made a name for himself for this long without getting accused of plagiarism? The fact that he is dead should not be the reason why this subject is ignored. Shakespeare should no longer be known as one of the greatest authors, but for the greatest fraud.

[|http://virgil.org/dswo/courses/shakespeare-survey/cinthio.pdf]



Cinthio is not the only author of the time period, that is thought to be a true writer of the plays Shakespeare took credit for. There is much contraversy over weather or not he wrote the play //The Tempest//, which is thought to be based of Henry Neville's play, //Bermuda shipwreck of 1609.// If //Othello// was the only play thought to be stolen, writers, and humas alike would need more proof to deny Shakespeare his rightful credit. However their are countless plays, and writings, thought to be fraud's of Shakespeare, simply taken from earlier writers. ( Cinthio's//, Hecatommithi// )

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