Was Shakespeare an Errant Husband?

Today we live in an age where celebrities curate their lives for public consumption. They decide what we see and how we see through their social media posts. Their personal lives are available to us, even if it is only the version that they want us to see. Pre-social media, the personal lives of celebrities were more distant. The paparazzi poached what they could, but beyond that celebrities dwelled in an altogether remote planet. Biographers and investigators could piece together their lives only through the material archives they left behind.

For centuries, it has been believed that Shakespeare was an irresponsible husband. He abandoned his pregnant wife Anne Hathaway in Stratford-upon-Avon in pursuit of a literary life in London. He forsook family responsibilities for the sake of art and letters. It was a narrative that seemed in sync with the time, a man devoting himself to a ‘greater cause,’ a man with no time for domestic chores.

But the discovery of a 17th-century letter addressing a “Mrs Shakspaire,” found in the binding of a book published in 1608 has helped alter that image. Published in the journal ‘Shakespeare,’ the article, ‘The Shakspaires of Trinity Lane: A Possible Shakespeare Life-Record’ by Matthew Steggle shows that his wife was very much involved with his life in London. Steggle states, “All this [a reply written by or on behalf of Mrs Shakspaire] paints a picture of William and Anne Shakespeare together in London, and living, perhaps around 1599–1603, in Trinity Lane. It further suggests an Anne Shakespeare who is not absent from her husband’s London life, but present and engaged in his financial and social networks.”

It is interesting to note that a single archival letter can alter so much. With this ‘discovery’, Shakespeare’s image in the world has changed from ‘bad husband’ to ‘caring husband’. This re-evaluation of Shakespeare also fits in well with our times. Four centuries ago, abandoning one’s wife didn’t really raise eyebrows. Today, the forfeiture of one’s duties would be considered rather inexcusable.

The interest of the public and scholars in the lives of authors was also made evident in the excitement around iconic author Joan Didion’s personal papers. At the end of March, for the first time, a display was made available to the public of the Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne Papers at the New York Public Library. This archive consisted of thousands of artefacts, in 336 boxes, from locks of hair to letters to menu cards to early drafts of their books. The New York Public Library states in its blog, “The dual collection comprises the couple’s literary and personal papers and stands as a rich testament to two of the most successful and important writers in postwar America.”

The collection of “approximately 240 linear feet” will take scholars and researchers a while to plough through. But the interest around it proves that biographers are always on the look out for information that will make them see celebrities of the past in a different light. The biography of Shakespeare will now need to be rewritten to prove that he wasn’t a selfish husband. Similarly, one wonders what discoveries the Didion and Dunne boxes will reveal in times to come.

errant husbandJoan DidionJohn Gregory DunneMatthew SteggleShakespeareWeb Exclusive