I have a Shakespeare course in school, and a part of the class is to
make a  presentation of five to ten minutes about Shakespeare.  The
presentation can be on anything relating to Shakespeare.  I have to
work on it this week, and present by next week, maybe even as early as
Monday July 19, 2004.  I would really appreciate it if someone could
send my way a number of ideas which would be simple to do.  I want to
try something original, but how original can i be on a subject which
has been studied for hundreds of years.

--Oh yeah what is a good method to getting rid of roaches in my house.

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Clarification of Question by queen03-ga on 20 Jul 2004 15:52 PDT

I now have a topic to speak on for 5 minutes for my class, but I
really do not know how to go into depth with it.  I am unable to find
anything describing what i want to speak of.  I want to explain the
idea of Shakespeare being a woman, more specifically i want to talk
about the idea that Queen Elizabeth I could have been the one who
wrote Shakespeare. Help!! If you have any suggestions about where i
should look that would actually be of so much help.

originallity is in the eye of the beholder , you could instead of
focussing on the person shakespear focus on the time period he lived
in and how exteral occurrances may have effected his political views
and thus his plays


- buy a can of raid-

Apart from the plays, what evidence exists which proves Shakespeare existed?
Gives you a chance to look at signatures, portraits, documents, church
registers etc., and forgeries that have come to light since his death.

Take the 1998 film 'Shakespeare in Love' and discuss how accurate it
is in its portrayal of Shakespeare and his life.
answerfinder-ga

A few theorists have speculated that the works attributed to William
Shakespeare might possibly have been written by a woman. You could
write an interesting essay on this theory, providing evidence that
indicates a female viewpoint in the plays and the sonnets. Although
the "Shakespeare was a woman" theory is not a new one, it hasn't been
done to death, as is the case with the "Shakespeare was Francis Bacon"
theory.

I think a fairly original topic surrounding Shakespeare is the one
surrounding his sexuality.  Many people have often cited the sonnets
as evidence of Shakespeare's homosexual desires.  Look especially
closely at Sonnet 20, it contains strong homoerotic overtones.  The
reason this topic is so good is because there are many people who
struggle to accept the possibility that Shakespeare was gay because
Shakepeare is supposed to represent everything that is great about
England. In other words he is perceived as timelessly English and to
suggest that he was sexually 'deviant' is, in the eyes of many, to be
wrong or unheard of.  Bruce Smith has written an especially good case
for Shakespeare being gay.  Alan Bray has also written a book about
the sexual climate of Renaissance England which gives a good overview
of how homosexual practice in the sixteenth and seventeenth century
was rife and generally accepted outside of court. There was a
homosexual subculture even then.

If you do this subject though, be careful.  Whilst there is evidence
to suggest that Shakespeare is gay there is a lot to suggest
otherwise.  Remember the sonnets do detail a relationship with a 'Dark
Lady'.  In general, because of the close relationship with a young boy
explained in the earlier sonnets (1-20 especially) many come to the
conclusion that Shakespeare was a bisexual capable of feeling and
writing from both ends of the sexual spectrum.

I hope this is of some help.  Even if you don't do it for your final
project it is a very interesting argument to become indulged in
anyway.

Here's an article about a recent "Shakespeare was a woman" theory:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5251226/site/newsweek/

It would be difficult to argue that Queen Elizabeth I wrote
Shakespeare's plays, since some of the plays were written after
Elizabeth's death.