Did Shakespeare Really Write Shakespeare?
The theory that someone else, such as Francis Bacon or Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford, wrote the plays credited to William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon. Mainstream scholars hold that the evidence points to Shakespeare.
Verdict: Unproven. The sources below do not establish this claim. That is not the same as proving it false. How we rate stories
The Story
William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon was an actor in London. Plays and poems were published under his name, and after his death his fellow actors John Heminges and Henry Condell gathered the plays into the First Folio.
In the 19th century an American writer, Delia Bacon, became convinced that a man of Shakespeare's background could not have written the plays and that Francis Bacon had. In the 20th century a schoolmaster named Thomas Looney put forward Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, as a more aristocratic candidate. Christopher Marlowe and others have also been proposed.
For about 200 years, nobody doubted it.
Scholars answer with documents. Writers of the time, including Francis Meres and William Camden, named Shakespeare among the leading writers of the day. His monument in Stratford, placed soon after his death, praises him as a writer. Ben Jonson's poem in the First Folio calls the author the 'sweet swan of Avon.' Records connect the writer to the actor and to the Stratford family that was granted a coat of arms.
The plays were sometimes written with collaborators, which scholars now readily accept. But no document has surfaced showing that someone else was the hidden author. The debate continues mostly outside academic Shakespeare studies.
Origins
According to Professor Jonathan Bate, speaking for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, nobody doubted the authorship for about 200 years. Doubts began in the Victorian era with an American writer, Delia Bacon, who argued for Francis Bacon. In the early 20th century a schoolmaster, Thomas Looney, proposed Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford.
The Claims
- A grammar-school boy from Stratford could not have known so much about courts and aristocrats.
- 'Shakespeare' was a front man for a hidden author.
- Bacon, Christopher Marlowe or the Earl of Oxford was the real writer.
Key Evidence
- Doubters point to the gap between the plays' range of learning and the Stratford man's background. Bate notes that this is the argument Looney used to propose the Earl of Oxford.
The Evidence Against
- Bate points to Francis Meres, whose book of 1598 praised Shakespeare by name. Bate notes that Meres mentions Marlowe, Bacon and the Earl of Oxford elsewhere as separate writers.
- Bate cites William Camden, one of the most learned men in England, who listed Shakespeare among the leading writers of the age. He calls this, along with records of Shakespeare as player and of his coat of arms, the 'golden bullet.'
- The Folger Shakespeare Library reports that researcher Heather Wolfe found new manuscript evidence about the dispute over the grant of arms to Shakespeare's father, a controversy that touches on Shakespeare himself.
- Scholars do accept that Shakespeare sometimes collaborated with other writers. According to the Folger's Shakespeare Documented project, The Two Noble Kinsmen is generally agreed to be co-written. Collaboration is different from a hidden author.
Documents & Sources
- AcademicShakespeare authorship question: Did Shakespeare Really Write All of His Plays? (Shakespeare Birthplace Trust) shakespeare.org.uk ↗
- AcademicWilliam Shakespeare, Poet and Gentleman (Folger Shakespeare Library, 2017) folger.edu ↗
- AcademicCollaborations and (mis)attributions (Shakespeare Documented, Folger) shakespearedocumented.folger.edu ↗
Each link was checked for availability on Oct. 27, 2026. Links open in a new tab.