Authorship

Around 150 years after Shakespeare's death, doubts began to emerge about the authorship of Shakespeare's works. [171] Alternative candidates proposed include Francis Bacon , Christopher Marlowe , and Edward de Vere , the Earl of Oxford. [172] Although all alternative candidates are almost universally rejected in academic circles, popular interest in the subject, particularly the Oxfordian theory , has continued into the 21st century. [173]

Religion

Some scholars claim that members of Shakespeare's family were Catholics , at a time when Catholic practice was against the law, [174] Shakespeare's mother, Mary Arden , certainly came from a pious Catholic family. The strongest evidence might be a Catholic statement of faith signed by John Shakespeare , found in 1757 in the rafters of his former house in Henley Street. The document is now lost, however, and scholars differ on its authenticity. [175] In 1591, the authorities reported that John had missed church "for fear of process for debt", a common Catholic excuse. [176] In 1606, William's daughter Susanna was listed among those who failed to attend Easter communion in Stratford. [176] Scholars find evidence both for and against Shakespeare's Catholicism in his plays, but the truth may be impossible to prove either way. [177]

Sexuality

Few details of Shakespeare's sexuality are known. At 18, he married the 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, who was pregnant. Susanna, the first of their three children, was born six months later on 26 May 1583 . However, over the centuries readers have pointed to Shakespeare's sonnets as evidence of his love for a young man. Others read the same passages as the expression of intense friendship rather than sexual love. [178] At the same time, the twenty-six so-called "Dark Lady" sonnets, addressed to a married woman, are taken as evidence of heterosexual liaisons. [179]