The Truth About Shakespeare

Who really wrote all his plays?

William Shakespeare is often cited as the “best writer in history.” His work can be considered the first to really dive into human behavior through fiction.

What we do know is:

He was popular in his day. His acting troupe started performing more of his plays when it was clear they were the most popular.

But did he write it?

Delia Bacon was the first person to question the authenticity of Shakespeare’s work in the 1850s.

But could he have written his own work? Let’s go through the main contenders.

4. Francis Bacon

“The most prodigious wit, that ever I knew of my nation, and of this side of the sea, is of your Lordship’s name, though he be known by another.”

— Tobie Matthew’s letter to Bacon in 1623.

Delia Bacon herself suggested Francis as the possible wearer of the “Shakespeare” mask. As far as I could tell, there wasn’t a relation.

Sir Francis Bacon was the Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under Elizabeth I. He is today known as the “Father of Empiricism” and connected to several advances in scientific thinking. But he was also heavily involved in poetry and literature.

The claim is Shakespeare made mention to scientific knowledge only Francis had at the time in addition to there being hidden messages in Shakespeare’s work. Someone even built a machine to decipher the hidden messages and came up with nothing, but decoders today are still working on finding connections.

The Tobie Matthew’s letter suggests Bacon is an author known by another name. Although we have no copies of Bacon’s poetry today, there are references to his writing of it.

He was highly educated in matters referenced in Shakespeare’s work while Shakespeare himself had limited education growing up.

3. Sir Walter Raleigh

Executed in 1618, Sir Walter Raleigh has been put forward as a contender for the “real” Shakespeare. Also notable is that Raleigh and Queen Elizabeth had a close personal and political relationship. This theory is usually put forward by Americans.

The main evidence for this theory is that some situations in Shakespeare’s plays closely resemble real life experiences of…