The Baconian theory of Shakespeare authorship holds that Sir Francis Bacon, philosopher, essayist and scientist, wrote the plays which were publicly attributed to
William Shakespeare. Various explanations are offered for this alleged subterfuge, most commonly that Bacon's rise to high office might have been hindered were it to become known that he wrote plays for the public stage. Thus the plays were credited to Shakespeare, who was merely a front to shield the identity of Bacon. This theory was first proposed by the unrelated American playwright Delia Bacon in the 1850s. While wholly unsubstantiated, this theory has attracted many adherents and inspired many parodies such as this one.