William Shakespeare: murdered?

Alex Grenn '23

Arts and Entertainment

People read William Shakespeare’s works all around the world, but how many take the time to learn about him personally? And even further, how many know about his death? For those who have explored this, you may have learned that he sadly passed away due to alcohol poisoning on April 23, 1616 his 52nd birthday. However, I am here to tell you that he did not die by accident. He was murdered.

For some background, historians say that on the night of his supposed death, April 23, 1616, William Shakespeare traveled to the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon to celebrate his birthday with his two friends, Ben Jonson and Michael Drayton. After drinking too much, William Shakespeare succumbed to alcohol poisoning and passed with a high fever.

However, it is important to note that alcohol poisoning does not cause high body temperatures, but rather the opposite effect happens. Those with alcohol poisoning experience a drastic decrease in their body temperature.

Historians refute this argument by saying that William Shakespeare died with a fever because he was already sick with typhoid fever. But that cannot possibly be true. This is because three weeks prior, William Shakespeare was beddridden with typhoid fever. In the 1600s, if you did not immediately die from typhoid fever, you would have gotten over it in about four weeks, which William Shakespeare did. Based on many accounts of those who have had typhoid fever, this illness prevents you from making it to the kitchen in your own home, let alone to a church two miles away from your house. During the 1600s it was also incredibly taboo to travel when sick. Therefore, it is clear that William Shakespeare did not have typhoid fever when he passed away.

The lingering question is how did William Shakespeare die? The most logical answer is poison. William Shakespeare was poisoned.

A very common poison used from the 1500s to the 1800s was belladonna. It was a berry that when consumed, can kill an adult male. Belladonna mixes seamlessly with the flavors of wine and causes elevated body temperature. Therefore, the use of belladonna lines up with the situation of William Shakespeare’s death.

Now that the cause of death has been identified, it is now a question of who did it.

First, we must look at who was present at William Shakespeare’s death: Ben Jonson and Michael Drayton.

Ben Jonson was a playwright who was previously convicted of murder and served three years in jail. This information makes him incredibly suspicious, but he had no identifiable motive. With that, we will move on to Michael Drayton.

Michael Drayton was a playwright who was close friends with Ben Jonson, as well as an acquaintance of William Shakespeare. It is important to mention that Michael Drayton had been known to display jealous and bitter opinions towards William Shakespeare. But this is not enough to accuse him of murder. You may be asking, what is key about Michael Drayter? The answer: his connections.

Michael Drayton was best friends with Thomas Greene. Thomas Greene was best friends with Richard Quiney. Richard Quiney had a son named Thomas Quiney, and Thomas Quiney was married to Judith Shakespeare, William Shakespeare’s daughter.

On February 10, 1616, Thomas Quiney and Judith Shakespeare got married. However, very soon into the marriage Thomas Quiney was found cheating on Judith Shakespeare. As a result, two weeks prior to Shakespeare’s death, William Shakespeare wrote Thomas Quiney out of his will, leaving him with no inheritance, which is a clear motive.

The pieces are all in place to solve this mystery.

It is clear that after being written out of the Shakespeare will, Thomas Quiney called upon a family friend, Michael Drayton, who had a personal distaste for William Shakespeare, to murder him. When Drayton got invited to go drinking with Shakespeare and Jonson, Drayton took this opportunity to slip pressed belladonna berries into Shakespeare’s wine. Jonson, already acquainted with murder and being close friends with Drayton, turned the other cheek.

It is therefore concluded by this investigative journalist that William Shakespeare ultimately died that night from poisoning appearing to have drank himself to death.

Thomas Quiney and Michael Drayton may have gotten away with their scheme for 400 years, but no longer. Thomas Quiney and Michael Drayton murdered William Shakespeare. This case is closed.

Work Cited

Cutting, Bonner Miller. “Shakespeare's Will ... Considered Too Curiously.” Shakespeare Oxford Fellowship, 24 Apr. 2021, https://shakespeareoxfordfellowship.org/shakespeares-will-considered-too-curiously/.

Demirhan, Abdullah, et al. “Anticholinergic Toxic Syndrome Caused by Atropa Belladonna Fruit (Deadly Nightshade): A Case Report.” Turkish Journal of Anaesthesiology and Reanimation, Turkish Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Society, Dec. 2013, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4894214/.

Paterson , Mike. “Ben Jonson's Murder Charge.” London Historians' Blog, 20 Mar. 2019, https://londonhistorians.wordpress.com/2018/11/21/ben-jonsons-murder-charge/#:~:text=Although%20he%20maintained%20that%20Spenser,drawn%20in%20his%20right%20hand

Shakespeare's Stratford Friends, https://shakespeareauthorship.com/friends.html.