Thedevelopmentofa newree ned platetheoryand its two simplevariantsisgiven. Thetheorieshavestrongcommonality withtheequationsofclassicalplatetheory (CPT).However,unlikeCPT,thesetheoriesassumethatlateral and axial displacements have bending and shear components such that bending components do not contribute toward shearforces and, likewise, shearing components do not contribute toward bending moments. The theory and one of its variants are variationally consistent, whereasthesecond variant isvariationally inconsistent and usesthe relationships between moments, shear forces, and loading. It should be noted that, unlike any other ree ned plate theory, thegoverning equation as well as the expressions for moments and shear forces associated with thisvariant areidentical tothoseassociated withtheCPT,savefortheappearanceofasubscript. Theeffectivenessofthetheory and itsvariantsisdemonstratedthroughanexample. Surprisingly,theanswersobtained by boththevariantsofthe theory, one of which is variationally consistent and the other one is inconsistent, are same. The numerical example studied, therefore, not only brings out the effectiveness of the theories presented, but also, albeit unintentionally, supports the doubts, e rst raised by Levinson, about the so called superiority of variationally consistent methods.