Baconian theory

The claim that the plays of Shakespeare were in fact written by the Elizabethan writer and statesman Francis Bacon. The theory was first suggested by the US diplomat Joseph C Hart in his book Romance of Yachting (1848) and developed by the US writer Delia Bacon in The Philosophy of the Plays of Shakespeare Unfolded (1857). The Baconian theory is not taken seriously by scholars as there is ample evidence to link Shakespeare to the plays.

The basic argument in support of the Baconian theory is that a mere actor (Shakespeare) whose formal education did not go beyond that of a provincial grammar school would not have been capable to writing plays that teem with literary, scientific and philosophical references. Some researchers also claim to have found codes revealing Bacon's authorship carefully concealed in the texts of the plays.

A related theory – accepted by several leading writers and thinkers, including the Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud – is that the plays were written by a number of contemporary figures, mostly aristocrats who wanted to remain anonymous, and bought by Shakespeare, who presented them under his own name.