Arthur Miller and Shakespearean Forgery

Abstract

Arthur Miller is mostly known as a playwright, but he also wrote fiction, even a children’s book, and radio plays. During the 1930s and 1940s, radio plays were a popular form of entertainment. The productions were lavish, and the actors among the most famous in the theater of the time. The salary was lucrative for Miller, who was yet to write his most famous plays. Miller’s first radio play, William Ireland’s Confession, was broadcast on 19 October 1939 on Columbia Workshop. Miller displays great familiarity with William Henry Ireland (1775–1835) and his project to present his own writing under Shakespeare’s name and to collect memorabilia allegedly belonging to the great bard. This article reviews William Henry Ireland’s story and ultimate exposure and suggests that Miller’s radio play goes beyond retelling the story to making a statement about authorship and, in an uncanny way, foreshadowing his own experiences as a playwright.