was shakespeare a fraud or a plagiarist?

[Leanne]

You quoted a bit of Marlowe, and I wondered where it came from.

E

The poem's from Edward II... or more properly The Troublesome Reign and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England, with the Tragical Fall of Proud Mortimer. Old Kit was a man of words, for sure

Whether Marlowe was the blackhearted homosexual atheist (Catholic) gambling counterfeiter who couldn't hold his drink (the worst crime of all) or not, at least there's no doubt that he wrote his own plays. Perhaps if Shakespeare had led a more interesting (or nefarious) lifestyle, there'd be no speculation about his veracity either. Of course, his career might have been a bit shorter.