Key Takeaways:
- Hamnet Shakespeare was the only son of William Shakespeare, and almost everything known about him comes from sparse parish records, fueling centuries of speculation about his short life and his influence on the playwright.
- Hamnet’s death at age 11 remains a mystery, with theories ranging from plague to other common Elizabethan illnesses; no confirmed cause survives in historical documents.
- Scholars have long debated the connection between Hamnet and Hamlet, as well as the existence of a lost “Ur-Hamlet” play. These questions are revived by the 2025 film Hamnet’s exploration of Shakespeare’s grief and family life.
More than four centuries after its creation, Hamlet remains one of William Shakespeare’s most recognized works. Now, one of 2025’s biggest movies attempts to decode its mysterious composition and the role a Shakespeare family tragedy may have played.
Hamnet, now in theaters, stars Paul Mescal as the famed playwright and Jessie Buckley as his wife Anne Hathaway, written with her given name, Agnes. Based on the 2020 novel of the same name by Maggie O’Farrell, Hamnet is a fictional exploration of the couple’s relationship and their lives following the death of their young son Hamnet (played by Jacobi Jupe).
Part of Biography.com’s special coverage of Hamnet, exploring how the 2025 film reimagines Shakespeare’s family, grief, and the world that shaped his work.
Who Was Hamnet Shakespeare? What We Actually Know About His Life
Hamnet Shakespeare (1585–1596) was the only son of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway, and the twin brother of Judith. Almost everything we know about him comes from baptism and burial records, leaving historians to fill in the rest from context clues.
Why Did Shakespeare Name His Children Hamnet and Judith?
The parish register of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, indicates Hamnet and Judith Shakespeare, William and Anne’s second and third children, were baptized on February 2, 1585. Although they aren’t identified as such, the equal gap between their baptisms and that of older sibling Susanna all but confirms they were twins.
The name Hamnet—and its variant, Hamlet—was unusual for the era, according to the Folger Shakespeare Library. However, there was one notable example: Hamnet Sadler, a baker and neighbor of William Shakespeare in Stratford. The pair were close in age, suggesting they might have been classmates growing up, but this is not confirmed.
Hamnet Sadler married a woman named Judith, the daughter of Thomas Staunton of Longbridge. The identical names of Shakespeare’s children suggest the couple acted as godparents to young Hamnet and Judith, though no official record of this exists.
Otherwise, very little is known about Hamnet’s childhood. Shakespeare relocated to London in 1589 to pursue his acting and writing career, according to Emerson College, though he did return periodically to visit his family. The period from his twins’ birth until 1892 is known as Shakespeare’s “lost years,” as there are very few concrete records documenting his life.
How Did Hamnet Die, and How Old Was He?
Unfortunately, the mystery surrounding Hamnet only deepens with his death at age 11.
Hamnet was buried at the Stratford churchyard on August 11, 1596, the parish register of Holy Trinity confirms. Funerals during this time typically occurred no more than two or three days after the individual’s death, so it is likely the boy died on or around August 9.
It’s not known if Shakespeare was present for his son’s death or burial. According to the Folger Shakespeare Library, it would’ve taken at least two days for news of Hamnet’s death to reach the Bard in London—leaving him unable to return in time. It’s also possible Shakespeare wasn’t even in London. His theater company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, may have been on tour in Kent that summer.
Hamnet’s cause of death is also unknown, though there are multiple theories. One is that he succumbed to the plague—which killed almost one-fifth of the Stratford population in 1564 and recurred throughout the century, historian Stephen Greenblatt told Time. O’Farrell’s fictionalized book also attributes the boy’s demise to the plague.
However, the parish documents suggest otherwise. “What we can tell from this record is that there were five burials in the month of August, which is an average number. So, it suggests that there was no health epidemic, so not plague,” Amy Hurst, an archivist at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, explained. Dysentery and typhus were other maladies common in Stratford at the time.
Conversely, historian Germaine Greer speculated in her 2007 book Shakespeare’s Wife that Hamnet may have had a congenital defect contributing to his death.
Did Hamnet Inspire Hamlet? What Scholars Agree On (and Don’t)
The Hamlet play was written shortly after young Hamnet’s death. According to the Royal Shakespeare Company, a reference in the second act to “an eyrie of children, little eyases” likely refers to a company of youth players active in 1601, putting its composition around that time.
Given the nearly identical names and the play’s themes of grief and vengeance—including an interaction between the character Hamlet and his father’s ghost—it’s widely believed the popular work is directly tied to Shakespeare’s family tragedy. However, as Smithsonian Magazine points out, the “connection was never explicitly confirmed by Shakespeare himself.”
The true origin of Hamlet is still debated today, as elements of the plot existed centuries prior. The story first appeared as a Scandinavian folk tale about a prince named Amleth, which was passed to future generations by word of mouth. Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus transcribed the tale as part of the Gesta Danorum (translated as Deeds of the Danes) sometime around 1208.
What Is the Ur-Hamlet? Inside the Lost Play That May Have Preceded Hamlet
More intriguingly, many scholars have concluded there was a 16th century precursor to Hamlet called the Ur-Hamlet. No written copy of the work exists, but there were several contemporary references during the late 1580s and mid-1590s, according to the University of Houston. This Ur-Hamlet is typically attributed to another English playwright, Thomas Kyd, though others believe it is merely an early version penned by Shakespeare.
Research shows that Shakespeare likely contributed to a pair of Kyd works, Edward III and The Spanish Tragedy, making their connection all the more intriguing.
How Does Hamnet Echo Through Other Shakespeare Plays?
Because so little is confirmed about Shakespeare’s life—and his 1616 death, for that matter—it’s impossible to know how much he drew from his grief for Hamnet in his plays.
According to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, many scholars argue a monologue in the historical play King John (likely written the year of Hamnet’s death, but not published until 1623) offers the playwright’s most direct reflection on the death of a child:
Grief fills the room up of my absent child,
Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me,
Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words,
Remembers me of all his gracious parts,
Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form.
Then, have I reason to be fond of grief?
Shakespeare also composed some of his most famous comedies, including As You Like It and Much Ado About Nothing, in the wake of Hamnet’s death. Though unconfirmed, some researchers speculate the Bard wrote these as a humorous escape from his distressing emotions.
However, the Hamnet movie places the focus solely on Hamlet and offers a modern interpretation of how family tragedy likely shaped its creation.
How the 2025 Film Hamnet Reimagines Shakespeare’s Family
Hamnet is now in theaters. It stars Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare, Jessie Buckley as Agnes Shakespeare/Anne Hathaway, and Jacobi Jupe as Hamnet Shakespeare.
Purchase your Hamnet tickets here
Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor and is now the News and Culture Editor. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor for a daily newspaper recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In his current role, he shares the true stories behind your favorite movies and TV shows and profiles rising musicians, actors, and athletes. When he's not working, you can find him at the nearest amusement park or movie theater and cheering on his favorite teams.
