研究曝莎翁另一面：饥荒囤粮逃避税收_BEC初级作文

研究曝莎翁另一面：饥荒囤粮逃避税收

They added that Shakespeare did all he could to 'avoid taxes, maximise profits at others' expense and exploit the vulnerable – while writing plays about their plight'.

And his approach of 'combining both illegal and legal activities' meant he could retire after a working life of only 24 years.

Researchers at Aberystwyth University carried out an academic study looking into Shakespeare's 'other life' as one of Warwickshire's biggest landowners and have uncovered the less than savoury side to Britain's greatest playwright.

The allegation he exploited famine has also led to suggestions that his Coriolanus, for years regarded as a plea for the starving poor, was in fact his way of trying to expunge a guilty conscience.

Jayne Archer, a researcher in Renaissance literature at Aberystwyth University, said in the Sunday Times: 'There was another side to Shakespeare besides the brilliant playwright — as a ruthless businessman who did all he could to avoid taxes, maximise profits at others' expense and exploit the vulnerable — while also writing plays about their plight to entertain them.

'Shakespeare is remembered as a playwright, but there was no copyright then and no sense that his plays could generate future income.

'That drove him to dodge taxes, illegally hoard [food] and act as a money-lender.

'He had two surviving daughters and would have seen himself as providing for them, but he was acting illegally and undermining the government's attempts to feed people.'