Newton Frohlich
Wellfleet, MA: Blue Bird Press, 2015
According to Edward de Vere, Will Shakespeare, is “cunning if uneducated,” selling his name to the Earl for sixty pounds, enough to buy the best house in Stratford or a coat of arms for his “Pa.” The scenes between the earl and the glover’s son communicate a social and educational chasm between them. De Vere’s character is unfailingly polite and patient, while Shakespeare is hesitant and bumptious (“Don’t have no call for kid gloves in Stratford”), which underlines Frohlich’s argument for de Vere as ‘real’ Shakespeare. According to reviews, fans of historical fiction enjoy The Shakespeare Mask as a taste of the sixteenth century, but complain that the work is didactic and the dialogue too modern. Followers of the authorship debate may be interested in how Frohlich, a former lawyer, turns the arguments in support of de Vere’s candidacy into narrative, much the way defense attorneys create narratives for juries in the attempt to create reasonable doubt. –CP