Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce to you an amazing playwright, a genius mind, the greatest bard of the Renaissance period… William Shakespeare! But you already know who is he and what is he famous for? Well, what we know about the most famous English playwright is really a lot and really… nothing. Why? Let me show you…
‘What’s in a name? A rose by any name would smell as sweet.’ (Romeo and Juliet Act 2, Scene 2)
Most of our confusion stems from the author debate. Many playwrights of the time pretended to wear Shakespeare’s crown. The first pretender is the philosopher, essayist and scientist Francis Bacon (1561-1626). The Baconian theory says Bacon wrote the plays publicly attributed to William Shakespeare. He kept it a secret because it might have hindered his rise to high office if it became known he wrote plays for the public stage. This is…