Shakespeare the Thug

Mike Dash, writing in the Smithsonian Magazine, dredges up an old criminal complaint against William Shakespeare, alleged issuer of death threats. Could thuggery have been his main source of income?

That Will Shakespeare was somehow involved in the low-life rackets of Southwark seems, from Hotson’s evidence, reasonably certain.... It is tempting to speculate, however, whether the profits that paid for such an opulent residence came from Will’s writing–or from a sideline as strong-arm man to an extortionist.

Can we say that Mr. Dash
makes accusations rash?

Or was this mild poetic chap
truly a master of gangsta rap?