Is Shakespeare Dead?

I have been a pretty avid fan of Shakespeare since I first saw Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet a number of years back. It helped me to dive head first into the text and find out what was really meant by "To be or not to be..." I have been a big fan ever since. My time has not allowed me to read all of the poems and plays, but I can say that I have been exposed to more than the average bear... read at least half of the plays,... made a trip to Stratford (Canada), have watched numerous film versions of the plays... so when I first heard about the controversy over whether or not William actually wrote the plays that are credited to him, I scoffed and thought, 'Whatever...' HOWEVER, I have been reading the article "Is Shakespeare Dead?" by Mark Twain, and major doubts have begun to rise in my mind... I know that more research has been done since the time S. Clemens, but he makes a tremendous case for William Shakespeare NOT being the writer of the plays and poems given his name. I have not finished reading it, but to summarize Twain, "I don't know if Francis Bacon wrote the works, but William Shakespeare certainly did not..." not my own 'authoritative' opinion, but one that has considerable merit after reading the article by Mark Twain. Even though it is a bit long, if you are interested, you should take the time to read it...