Stanley William Wells

Background

Wells was born in Hull, the son of Stanley Cecil Wells Administration Member of the Order of the British Empire and Doris Wells. His father was a bus company traffic manager.

Education

He lives in Stratford-upon-Avon and was educated in English at University College, London. Wells was educated at the Kingston High School grammar school in Hull. Wells was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Warwick in 2008.

Career

Wells took a degree in English at University College, London. He was invalided out of national service for the Royal Air Force in 1951. He became a Hampshire school teacher before moving to Stratford to complete his Phd.

He was Professor of Shakespeare Studies and Director of the Shakespeare Institute (University of Birmingham) from 1988–1997, and is now Emeritus Professor of Shakespeare Studies.

Wells is co-editor (with Gary Taylor, John Jowett and William Montgomery) of the Oxford Complete Works and (with Michael Dobson) the Oxford Companion to Shakespeare, and has been general editor of the Oxford Shakespeare series since 1978. In 2009, Wells revealed the existence of the Cobbe portrait.

He stated his belief, based on three years of research, that the portrait is a true portrait of Shakespeare, painted from life. In 2013, together with Review

Doctor Paul Edmondson, he called upon the Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey to remove the question mark which appears in place of a date of death in the memorial window to Christopher Marlowe in Poets" Corner in Westminster Abbey.

He is the father of author Jessica Ruston.

Achievements

• Stanley William Wells has been listed as a notable literature educator, scholar, writer by Marquis Who's Who.

Works

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  • Shakespeare, Sex, and Love

    (Praised as "eloquent, humane, and balanced" (Times Litera...)

  • A Dictionary of Shakespeare (Oxford Quick Reference)

    (This concise, illustrated dictionary of Shakespeariana, c...)

  • Shakespeare: For All Time (Oxford Shakespeare)

    (From the entry of Shakespeare's birth in the Stratford ch...)

  • Aspects of King Lear

    (This volume brings together nine essays on King Lear by d...)

  • Shakespeare, Sex, and Love

    (Here is a lively look at how Shakespeare's treatment of h...)

  • William Shakespeare: The Complete Works (Oxford Shakespeare)

    (The second Oxford edition of Shakespeare's Complete Works...)

  • Shakespeare: The writer and his work

    (Stanley Wells, a leading authority on Shakespeare, gives ...)

  • Aspects of Hamlet

    (Aspects of Hamlet brings together authoritative articles ...)

  • Shakespeare: An Illustrated Dictionary

    ('can be confidently recommended to students of Shakespear...)

  • Shakespeare: The Writer and His Work

    (A concise overview of the great dramatist and all of his ...)

  • Re-editing Shakespeare for the Modern Reader: Based on Lectures Given at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C. (Oxford Shakespeare Studies)

    (Re-editing Shakespeare for the Modern Reader)

  • Twelfth Night: Critical Essays

    (Shakespeare, William, -- 1564-1616. -- Twelfth night.)

  • (Shakespeare in the Theatre: An Anthology of Criticism ) Author: Stanley W. Wells Mar-2000
  • THE ENGLISH ASSOCIATION: SHAKESPEARE - A READING GUIDE.
  • Shakespeare beyond Doubt: Evidence, Argument, Controversy by Paul Edmondson (Editor), Stanley Wells (Editor) (18-Apr-2013) Paperback
  • Shakespeare: A Reading Guide (English Association)
  • King Richard the Second (New Penguin Shakespeare) by Stanley Wells (1994-04-28)
  • (Re-editing Shakespeare for the Modern Reader) Author: Stanley W. Wells published on (September, 1984)
  • Shakespeare, Sex, and Love by Stanley Wells (2012-07-05)
  • Shakespeare: The Poet and His Plays (By: Stanley W. Wells) published: April, 2001
  • (Shakespeare: The Poet and His Plays ) Author: Stanley W. Wells Apr-2001
  • A Dictionary of Shakespeare (Oxford Quick Reference) by Stanley Wells (2005-12-29)

Views

On Tuesday 20 October 2009, he appeared on British Broadcasting Corporation 4"s comedy panel show "lieutenant"s Only a Theory" - defending the prevailing opinion within contemporary Shakespeare Studies that "The plays of William Shakespeare were written by William Shakespeare of Stratford-Upon-Avon" and debunking the theory that Shakespeare"s plays were written by some of his contemporaries.

Membership

Member Malone Society (member council), Society Theatre Research.

Connections

Married Susan Hill, April 23, 1975. Children: Jessica, Clemency.

Father:

Stanley Cecil Wells

Mother:

Doris (Atkinson) Wells

Spouse:

Susan Hill

child:

Clemency Wells

child:

Jessica Wells