Friday, April 07, 2023
In ‘Hamnet,’ Shakespeare’s Wife Takes the Stage, at Last
The New York Times: Of the numerous puzzles about William Shakespeare, those concerning his love life are the most tantalizing. Why did he marry a local woman, Anne Hathaway, have three children with her, then decamp to London for a life in the theater? What was their relationship really like? And why do we know so little about Anne herself, whom one scholar has called a “wife-shaped void” in the playwright’s story?
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I know when Hamnet first came out, there was a hype and I thought of reading the novel too. Though I still haven’t gotten to the book to this day, I knew it was a fiction based on William Shakespeare’s wife and children. After reading the article I realised how much Anne/Agnes has been overlooked in history and it does make me want to find out more about her. It’s a true shame that there’s so little information about her that most things are just assumptions rather than evidence-based. It’s very touching to see that the play will be performed in Stratford-upon-Avon, the hometown of Shakespeare. Also, I have confidence that the play will be a hit considering that it’s produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company. I’m also happy that this would probably bring more tourism to the small town and attract more foot traffic. Now I want to read the novel and perhaps visit the small town!
I’ve always known that Shakespeare had a wife named Anne Hathaway, but it boggles my mind reading this article to think that I’ve never thought about looking into her further or seeing what information was available about her. Now it turns out that all this time, I could’ve even been calling her by the wrong name: it may have been Agnes. I also knew Shakespeare had a son named Hamnet who supposedly inspired Hamlet with his death, but I haven’t looked much into that story either. I’m definitely adding the book Hamnet to my list. Knowing that there isn’t much available to learn about Anne, or Agnes, Hathaway, as the case may be, just makes me more curious to delve through what is available. After all, we talk a lot about Shakespeare, but we don’t know that much about his life. Scholars aren’t even sure of his exact birth or death date, due to conflicting or ill-kept records.
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