Would-Be Bards

Over the centuries, more than 50 people have been advanced as candidates for Shakespeare's title. The top contenders:

Francis Bacon

The scientist, essayist, philosopher and self-described "concealed poet" was the first to be tapped as the alternative Bard. His champions say that phrases in the plays echo ones that Bacon wrote down in a private notebook.

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Christopher Marlowe

The hottest playwright of his day until he died in a barroom brawl in 1593 -- if he died. Marlovians believe their man was a sometime spy for the queen who was spirited out of England because his life was in danger and spent his remaining years writing the plays in exile in France, Spain and Italy.

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Edward de Vere, earl of Oxford

The present-day front-runner, his claim rests on supposedly striking parallels between his life and incidents in the plays, his erudition and his intimate knowledge of the queen's court.

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