What is the authorship question?
Anti-Stratfordian theories argue that another writer used Shakespeare as a front. They often begin from gaps in the surviving biography or assumptions about what education and experience an author “must” have had. Gaps are real, but absence of private papers is common for people of the period.
Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford
Oxfordian theory proposes Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. De Vere was educated and connected to court, but he died in 1604, before the generally accepted dates of several later plays. Arguments for wholesale redating have not persuaded mainstream textual and theatre historians.
Francis Bacon
Bacon’s learning, prose and political career encouraged theories that he encoded secret claims in the plays. Proposed ciphers have not produced a reproducible body of evidence linking him to the theatrical works.
Christopher Marlowe
Marlowe was a major dramatist and an important influence. He died in 1593, before many Shakespeare plays were written. Suggestions that he survived secretly require a chain of claims unsupported by contemporary evidence.
Why scholars accept Shakespeare
Publishers and fellow actors repeatedly named William Shakespeare. Heminges and Condell presented the First Folio as the work of their colleague; Ben Jonson’s tribute addresses the Stratford figure; the church monument identifies him as a writer; and contemporary references connect the name to the acting company and published works.
Collaboration does not weaken this case. Shakespeare’s work with Fletcher, Middleton, Wilkins and others fits normal theatrical practice and is studied openly.
What remains uncertain
Documents cannot answer every personal question. The exact chronology of several plays, division of labour in collaborations and details of the lost years remain debated. Responsible scholarship distinguishes those genuine uncertainties from a claim that the central authorship evidence points elsewhere.