Hamnet may take its name from Shakespeare’s doomed son, but director Chloé Zhao’s film belongs to Agnes Shakespeare, the woman better known to history as Anne Hathaway. Blending sparse historical fact with rich fiction, the drama reimagines her as a healer, mother and wife – and the emotional force behind Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy
Being entitled Hamnet, you might expect Chloé Zhao’s movie to focus squarely on the life of the young Shakespeare boy. Or perhaps, you’d expect that it’d be the boy’s father who takes centre stage. You’d be wrong.
No, it’s Agnes Shakespeare, played by Jessie Buckley in an Academy Award-winning performance, who is the beating heart of this Elizabethan period drama.
But just how accurately does Hamnet portray Agnes and what is the story behind the historical figure who inspired Buckley’s character?
Who was the real Agnes Shakespeare?
While the name Agnes Shakespeare is used in historical records, such as her father’s will, and in various works of literature (and films such as Hamnet), the wife of William Shakespeare is more commonly known as Anne Hathaway.
Very little is truly known about Agnes, with most documentation about her life largely relating to her marriage to William Shakespeare. But we do know that she most likely grew up in her family’s farmhouse in Shottery, a village not far away from Stratford-upon-Avon.
She was born in 1556 and died on August 6, 1623, surviving her husband by seven years. They had three children together, including Hamnet, the boy who inspired Maggie O’Farrell’s novel and the subsequent movie.
How accurate is Hamnet’s portrayal of Agnes?
Much like the real history behind Hamnet as a whole, the premise of the film (and the book) is built on the few facts we know about Agnes Shakespeare, with the many gaps filled in by imagination and speculation.
There are few records of Agnes, and in particular there is little or nothing relating to her general routines and ways of life. That’s where fiction comes into play, with O’Farrell inventing certain character traits, and even going as far as to depict Agnes as a healer who practised rituals rooted in folklore and had prophetic abilities.
In a less fantastical sense, the fact that Agnes is shown to read and write in Hamnet is also highly likely to be inaccurate. As the daughter of a farmer, there is little chance that someone such as Agnes would have been taught any kind of literary skills in Elizabethan England – unless she learned them from her playwright husband. Indeed, the only aspects of Agnes’ life that we know Hamnet gets right for certain are the timeline of the major events in her life, and the broad strokes of her family life and marriage with William Shakespeare.
Why is Anne Hathaway called Agnes in Hamnet?
Historically, most of the records pertaining to William Shakespeare’s wife refer to her as Anne Hathaway (using her maiden name) or Anne Shakespeare after their marriage in 1582.
However, when her father, Richard Hathaway, died in 1581, he listed her as Agnes Hathaway. In 16th-century England, the names Agnes and Anne were interchangeable, and it would appear her father preferred to use Agnes rather than the more commonly used Anne.
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The name Anne was used in her marriage certificate and other legal documents, so it’s fair to assume that she leaned more towards Anne in her everyday life.
Was Anne Hathaway really a healer?
There is no evidence that Anne Hathaway was a healer or that she dabbled in herbalism or mysticism. This concept is entirely rooted in Maggie O’Farrell’s descriptions of the character in her 2020 novel.
Still, the ideas of herbalist treatments and being highly attuned to nature are not exactly outrageous nor uncommon, particularly at that time in history, when more natural medicines were a primary source of healthcare for most people.
Everyday citizens in Elizabethan England would often rely on local knowledge and botanical remedies. It was usually the wives and mothers in a household who would be responsible for growing various herbs and using these to form treatments as and when needed.
So, while there is no proof that Anne Hathaway was a healer, spiritual or otherwise, it is not inconceivable that she would be aware of these kinds of medical processes and would quite likely have used herbal treatments in her lifetime.
What was Anne Hathaway and Shakespeare’s marriage like?
In the film, the first meeting between Agnes and William is purely by chance. Agnes is seen wandering in woodland and William catches sight of her from the window of the building where he is tutoring children. Drawn to the mysterious woman, William leaves his class and speaks to Agnes, and they almost immediately strike up an intense relationship.
In reality, we do not know exactly how the pair met. However, we do know that they lived about a mile apart during that time, with Anne/Agnes residing in Shottery and William living in Stratford-upon-Avon. Their fathers – John Shakespeare a glover and Richard Hathaway a farmer – would more than likely have done business with one another. Indeed, it appears that John paid some debts for Richard, suggesting they knew each other well and might have even been friends. So, it’s probable that Anne and William would have crossed paths quite naturally.
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Another element of real life that the film aligns with effectively is the nature of the couple’s marriage. Based on records of their marriage and the birth of their first child, Susanna, we know that Anne was roughly three months pregnant when she and William tied the knot. The idea of a “shotgun wedding”, and one that her family would have been disapproving of, is likely to be true to history.
William and Anne were married in November 1582 under a special license. The age gap between the couple – William was just 18 years old, while Anne was 26 – was quite uncommon, with William considered a young groom for the period.
They had two more children, twins Hamnet and Judith, born in 1585. As we know, Hamnet would die at the age of 11 in 1596, causing heartbreak within the family.
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In Hamnet, the strain of William living and working in London amplifies the pain suffered by Agnes back at home in Stratford-upon-Avon. This plays into the idea that they shared an intense and difficult marriage after Hamnet’s passing.
For a long time, historians believed much the same, too. However, more recently, the idea that William abandoned his family in their time of crisis has been questioned, with evidence suggesting William and Anne actually lived together in London between 1600 and 1610. In addition, love letters addressed to “good Mrs. Shakespeare” suggest a far more affectionate and happy marriage than initially thought.
When William retired in 1613, he moved back to Stratford-upon-Avon to be with Anne in their home at New Place. He died in 1616.
What did Shakespeare leave Anne Hathaway in his will?
After he famously left Anne the “second best bed” in their house, William Shakespeare’s will drove the narrative of a marriage that took a turn for the worst, which many believed was a slight against his wife.
The truth is, traditionally, the “best bed” in the house would have been reserved for guests, with the “second best bed” being the marital bed. In light of this, historians and literary experts now perceive William’s gesture to be a more sentimental and loving bequest.
As we mentioned earlier, Anne (or Agnes) was also a benefactor in her father, Richard Hathaway’s will. From him, she received the sum of ten marks, which would equate to around £6, 13 shillings and fourpence. That money was to be paid “at the day of her marriage”, which happened to be just over a year after the death of her father in September 1581.
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Jakob has worked in journalism for over a decade across a range of different outlets, covering entertainment, sports, and politics. When he's not writing, he's usually watching films and has a keen interest in historical entertainment, be it epic war stories, or intimate human dramas.