In 1781, English clergyman James Wilmot, after examining available sources in Stratford, concluded that a man with a background like Shakespeare’s did not have sufficient education and experience to write such excellent works. American literary scholars also came up with similar theories in 1856. For example, William Henry Smith claimed that Sir Francis Bacon - an essayist, philosopher, lawyer, and politician - was the actual author of the dramas. He held prominent state positions at the court of King James I. In 1955, American literary scholar Calvin Hoffman published a book in which he introduced Christopher Marlowe, a playwright, as the author of Shakespeare’s plays. Marlowe was killed in a duel a year before Shakespeare’s first works were published. According to other literary historians, the actual author of the works attributed to Shakespeare was some aristocrat who either considered a literary work for the theater to be beneath his dignity or feared the Queen’s wrath for publicizing his controversial political views. The aristocrats of the time - Lord William Stanley of Derby, Lord Edward de Vere of Oxford, Lord Robert Manners of Rutland - remained in the loop. Despite all the speculation, most authorities recognize William Shakespeare as the sole and proper author of the plays long attributed to him.
