You're not alone: no-one knows and no-one really understands. Certainly, as an actor and playwright, Shakespeare needed to be at the hub of social and Court life, which was London; there is speculation that Shakespeare was almost forced into a loveless marriage to Anne Hathaway because he had got her pregnant and he used his career as an excuse to avoid her; there is speculation that Shakespeare continued to court various female companions in London whilst married. The fact that Shakespeare only left his wife their second best bed in his will is often interpreted as some form of rebuke to her.
Carol Ann Duffy and Germaine Greer, however, both imagine the married life of Shakespeare to have been loving and caring, despite perhaps occasional lapses in behaviour. Duffy's poem "Anne Hathaway" is an intersting read which interprets the second-best bed as being the marital bed and a sign of intimacy. Greer relies on historical traditions and parallels to show that it was unlikely that Hathaway would have been abandoned by Shakespeare. Instead, she presents Hathaway as an extremely capable, business-minded and practical woman.
References:
Carol Ann Duffy "Anne Hathaway" The World's Wife
Germaine Greer "Shakespeare's Wife"
No comments:
Post a Comment