ZiranShang

Little is known about Shakespeare, and there is even less surviving evidence of him. As a consequence, there has always been a desire to say that someone else wrote under the pen name "William Shakespeare". Although there are many proposed "authors", three of them stand out. Each of these three has had a large supporting crowd that has gone to much trouble to find evidence for their opinions.
 * __ Shakespeare Conspiracy Theories __**
 * __﻿__[[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/William_Shakespeare_1609.jpg width="80" height="104" align="left" caption="William Shakespeare"]]**


 * __Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford__**

Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, has perhaps garnered the most support as a likely candidate for writing as Shakespeare.

This theory (called the Oxfordian Theory), was first suggested by Charles Looney, a British schoolteacher. Looney investigated Shakespeare's works and searched through historical documents to find someone similar. He found Edward de Vere, a well educated, bright young man who was one of the most powerful Earls in England. de Vere was known to have written several poems earlier in life, but mysteriously stopped in his twenties (Austin).

Looney theorized that de Vere had stopped writing as he learned more about the inside affairs of the court, and also because playwriting was considered "beneath" the nobles. Although Looney had somewhat strong of a following, his theory did not gain widespread fame until a book published by one of his followers, Charlton Ogburn (Austin).

Ogburn was already a successful author, and his book, //The Mysterious William Shakespeare//, was 900 pages of connections between the lives of Edward de Vere and William Shakespeare. Ogburn says that the real author must have been an insider, or else he would not be able to write about members of the court. Ogburn compares //Hamlet// to the court, and states that Lord Burghley, who de Vere grew up under, is like Polonius, and compares Ophelia to Anne Cecil (who de Vere was unhappily married to) (Ogburn).

The main issue with the Oxfordian theory is that de Vere died before //The Tempest// and //Macbeth// were written (as they reference historical events happening after de Vere's death). Although supporters of the theory still find ways to argue that the historical references were added in by others, there is a clear problem with the theory that cannot be easily overlooked (Bryson 190).

__**Francis Bacon, English Statesman**__

A second popular theory supports Francis Bacon, a famous statesman and philosopher who is also known for being the father of the scientific method (Francis). The Baconian theory was started by Delia Bacon, a teacher from Connecticut. She, for some obscure reason, was convinced that Francis Bacon was the author of Shakespeare's plays. She garnered the support of many influential people including Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne, and traveled to England to gather information on Bacon by "absorbing atmospheres". Then, she published //The Philosophy of the Plays of Shakspere Unfolded//, a dense and unreadable book that made her supporters regret giving her their support. Delia Bacon then returned home, where she gradually went insane (Bryson 185-186).

Unlike the Oxfordian Theory, the Baconian theory is not based on any parallels between the lives of Shakespeare and Bacon. Instead, the theory is largely founded on the mostly un-researched work of one person. It is surprising that the Baconian theory continued to gain support from the likes of Mark Twain (Bryson 186). This is where the so called deciphering of Shakespeare's plays starts.

Many people have used mathematical formulas and other confusing methods to somehow find hidden messages in Shakespearean text. For example, the word "honorificabilitudinitatiubus" from //Love's Labour's Lost// was interpreted to say "These plays, F. Bacon's offspring, are preserved for the world". These complicated codes have revealed nothing substantive, as each decipherer comes up with a more complicated code and a result that contradicts the prior decoding (Bryson 187).


 * __Christopher Marlowe, Playwright__**

Christopher Marlowe was another famous playwright and perhaps one of Shakespeare's greatest rivals. He also was the right age and obviously had enough talent to fulfill the theory. However, given the fact that he died before many of Shakespeare's works were written, it is strange that he is also a popular candidate. It seems that Marlowe's untimely death has also been the subject of conspiracy theories, with some people claiming that his death was faked. Of course, this just provides more fuel for the Marlovian theory (Clabough).

It has been suggested that Marlowe's death was faked with help from Thomas Walshingham, and that after his death he wrote most of Shakespeare's works. This theory gained enough popularity that Calvin Hoffman, a New York journalist, requested and received permission to open Walsingham's tomb, where he hoped to find evidence supporting the theory. Unluckily, the only thing he found was that Walsingham was buried at another location (Bryson 191-192).


 * __Works Cited__**

Austin, Al. “Who Wrote Shakespeare?” //Frontline//. PBS, Apr. 1989. Web. 23 Sept. 2010. . Bryson, Bill. //Shakespeare: The World as Stage//. New York: HarperCollins, 2007. Print. Christopher Marlowe. N.d. //Wikimedia Commons//. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2010. . Clabough, Raven. “Who Authored the Shakespeare Canon?” //New American// 26 Jan. 2010: n. pag. Web. 16 Oct. 2010. . Francis Bacon. N.d. //Wikimedia Commons//. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2010. . “Francis Bacon, Viscount Saint Alban.” //Encyclopaedia Britannica Online//. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2010. . Gheeraedts, Marcus. Edward de Vere. N.d. //Wikimedia Commons//. N.p., Feb. 2008. Web. 16 Oct. 2010. . Looney, J. Thomas. //“Shakespeare” Identified//. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1920. N. pag. //Shakespeare Fellowship//. Web. 8 Oct. 2010. . Ogburn, Charlton. “The Man Who Shakespeare Was Not (and Who He Was).” //Harvard Magazine// Nov. 1974: n. pag. //Frontline//. Web. 23 Sept. 2010. . William Shakespeare. N.d. //Wikimedia Commons//. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2010. .