A general two-dimensional theory suitable for the static and/or dynamic analysis of a transverse shear deformable plate, constructed of a homogeneous, monoclinic, linearly elastic material and subjected to any type of shear tractions at its lateral planes, is presented. Developed on the basis of Hamilton's principle, in conjunction with the method of Lagrange multipliers, this new theory accounts for an unlimited number of choices of through-thickness displacement distributions, while, starting with the smallest possible number of independent displacement components (five, for a shear deformation theory), it is capable of further operating with as many degrees of freedom as desired. For the particular case of a theory operating with five degrees of freedom, special attention is given to displacement expansions producing symmetric, through thicknes, distributions of transverse shear strain. For the cylindrical bending problem of a specially orthotropic plate, the governing equations of that five-degrees-of-freedom theory are solved and for three different choices of symmetric, through tickness, transverse shear deformation, numerical results are obtained and compared with corresponding results based on the exact three-dimensional solution existing in the literature. The comparisons made show clearly, that the multiple options offered by the new theory, by either suitably altering the displacement expansions or gradually increasing the degrees of freedom involved, will be found useful in future studies dealing with the static and/or dynamic analysis of homogeneous plates.