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On the surface, playwright Neil Simon and Edward de Vere (aka: “Edward Oxenford”) might seem to have little in common. Simon was born on the 4th of July 1927 in New York City and passed away in 2018 while Oxenford was born April 12, 1550 at Hedingham Castle, England and died in 1604.

Oxenford was the author of 37 plays whose authorship has long been attributed to William Shakespeare. I could list the details of Oxenford’s life to show how his life parallels the plays of William Shakespeare but others have already done that and “Stratfordians” dismiss it. Instead, they claim that an author with a “great imagination” like Shakespeare does not need to rely upon the experiences of his life to write great plays.

So let us look at the life of Neil Simon.

During his lifetime, Neil Simon wrote about 30 plays and almost as many screenplays. He based nearly ALL his plays on his own life and/or people he personally knew. His credits include:

COME BLOW YOUR HORN (1961), followed by the book of the musical LITTLE ME (1962). Other plays include:

BAREFOOT IN THE PARK (1963)

THE ODD COUPLE (1965)

THE STAR-SPANGLED GIRL (1966)

PLAZA SUITE (1968)

LAST OF THE RED HOT LOVERS (1969)

THE GINGERBREAD LADY (1970)

THE PRISONER OF SECOND AVENUE (1971)

THE SUNSHINE BOYS (1972)

THE GOOD DOCTOR (1973)

GOD’S FAVORITE (1974)

CALIFORNIA SUITE (1976)

CHAPTER TWO (1977)

I OUGHT TO BE IN PICTURES (1980)

FOOLS (1981)

BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS (1983)

BILOXI BLUES (1985)

BROADWAY BOUND (1986)

RUMORS (1988)

LOST IN YONKERS (1991)

JAKE’S WOMEN (1992)

LAUGHTER ON THE 23RD FLOOR (1993)

and LONDON SUITE (1994)

Neil Simon also wrote the books for the musicals SWEET CHARITY; PROMISES, PROMISES; THEY’RE PLAYING OUR SONG, and THE GOODBYE GIRL.

Besides adapting several of his plays for the movies, Simon wrote the screenplays for “The Out-of-Towners”; “The Heartbreak Kid”; “Murder by Death”; “The Cheap Detective”; “Seems Like Old Times”; “Only When I Laugh”; “Max Sugan Returns”; “The Slugger’s Wife”; and “The Marrying Man.”

If you examine the plays of Neil Simon, you will see that he wrote plays involving real people – not from his imagination. Also, his plays are full of wit and humor and heart. Sound familiar?

Someone recently asked me, who was a better writer, Marlowe or Shakespeare?

To me, Shakespeare was a better writer. Why? Not only did he speak of the human condition but he would dive into the psychological aspects of a character. He deftly moved beyond the stereotyping of characters which is a problem with Marlowe.

If you compare The Jew of Malta written in 1594 by CM to The Merchant of Venice by WS, you will see that in both plays, there is a Jewish man with a beautiful daughter. But in TJOM, the Marlowe view of Jews is antisemitic and racist. Jews are seen as gold-loving money-grubbers to be loathed and hated. In the case of Barabas, (the Jewish star of TJOM) he is a nun-poisoning and priest-killing villain. Back in 1594, Jews were excluded from living in England so isn’t Marlowe giving us a good reason why all Jews should be excluded from England?

But in the MoV, we hear Shylock’s anguished speech in which he asks to be seen as a human, not merely pigeonholed as a Jew. He says,“If you prick us, do we not bleed?”

We, the audience sympathize with him — even though later, Shakespeare panders to the tastes of his audience when Shylock demands his pound of flesh from Antonio.

My belief is that Edward de Vere, the 17th earl of Oxford wrote the plays of William Shakespeare. Oxford was 14 years older than Marlowe and they were both highly-educated men. Both were atheists. At one time, Marlowe worked for Oxford and lived at Fisher’s Folly, a house owned by Oxford so Marlowe may have even been mentored by Oxford. They most likely collaborated on some plays until Marlowe went his own way, and in fact, I believe the plays of Shakespeare should be rearranged as “pre-Spanish Armada”, “the Spanish Armada History plays” and “post-Spanish Armada.”

One of the biggest differences between the two, however, is that Oxford suffered from bipolar disorder and Marlowe did not. Oxford was also bisexual while Marlowe was a homosexual and not attracted to women. We know, according to the sonnets, Oxford was in love with a “dark” woman.

Finally, Edward de Vere may have written The Merchant of Venice in 1596, two years after The Jew of Malta, as a response to Marlowe’s open antisemitism.

Here the Jewish star, Shylock is portrayed as a human being and not a Jewish cartoon character. This was Oxford’s great gift – allowing a person who might in life be seen as a cast-off or undesirable to dive into our hearts and be memorable in a kind of social justice way.

By Robert Boog