Most scholars agree that William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon wrote the plays attributed to him, though some individual plays show signs of collaboration with other dramatists of his time.

The Mainstream View

The historical record consistently attributes the plays and poems to a man named William Shakespeare, an actor and shareholder in the Lord Chamberlain’s Men (later the King’s Men) in London.

Title pages, contemporary references, and literary testimonies from the late 1500s and early 1600s name him directly as the author.

Key points

  • His name appears on early published editions of the plays and poems.
  • Contemporaries referred to him as a playwright and praised his works during his lifetime.
  • Modern academic consensus holds that Shakespeare wrote the Shakespeare canon.

Collaboration and Co‑Authors

Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre was often collaborative, and Shakespeare’s career was no exception.

  • Linguistic and stylistic studies suggest that a handful of plays were co-written (for example, collaborations with John Fletcher, Thomas Middleton, and others in works like Henry VIII and The Two Noble Kinsmen).
  • Even in co-authored plays, Shakespeare is still regarded as the primary or at least a central author, not a front for an entirely different writer or secret group.

The Authorship “Conspiracy” Theories

Since the 19th century, some have argued that “Shakespeare” was a mask for other figures like Francis Bacon or Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford.

Common alternative candidates include:

  • Francis Bacon
  • Edward de Vere (Earl of Oxford)
  • Christopher Marlowe
  • Various noblemen and “secret circles”

However:

  • These theories generally conflict with documentary timelines (for example, Oxford died before some later plays seem to have been written).
  • No contemporary evidence clearly shows anyone else claiming authorship of the plays.
  • Literary historians and textual scholars overwhelmingly regard these theories as modern conspiracies rather than viable alternatives.

What’s “Latest” in the Discussion

While the mainstream view hasn’t shifted—Shakespeare of Stratford remains the accepted author—recent debates and online forum discussions often focus on:

  • New computational analyses of style suggesting collaboration patterns within and across plays.
  • Renewed popular interest in authorship debates through podcasts, YouTube essays, and social media, often revisiting the Oxford and Bacon claims but without changing scholarly consensus.
  • Accessible explainers from universities and theatres (like Shakespeare’s Globe) reaffirming the evidence for Shakespeare’s authorship for general audiences.

In most academic and professional theatre contexts today, when people ask “who wrote Shakespeare’s plays?”, the straightforward answer is: William Shakespeare wrote them, sometimes with help from fellow playwrights, and there is no solid evidence that anyone else secretly did the work.

TL;DR: The plays are attributed to William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon- Avon, and modern scholarship is nearly unanimous that he wrote them, with some recognized collaborations; alternative-authorship theories remain fringe and unproven.