Editor’s note: This story contains spoilers about events related to the movie Hamnet.
Hamnet examines the unlikely love story of William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes, along with the intense grief they face after the death of their titular son.
Like the 2020 Maggie O’Farrell novel that inspired it, the movie blends documented elements of Shakespeare’s family life with fictional events to illustrate the hazards of 16th century England. But with so little information confirmed about the real figures—Hamnet especially—it might be difficult to pinpoint how much of the story is true.
Here are the answers to some of your biggest questions about the main characters from the Oscar-contending drama.
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.
Was William Shakespeare’s wife named Agnes?
Those familiar with Shakespeare’s family background know his wife as Anne Hathaway—who, yes, provided inspiration for the Academy Award-winning actor of the same name. But in Hamnet, as well as O’Farrell’s novel, Anne (played by Jessie Buckley) is known by the alternate name “Agnes.”
While there are still lingering questions about Anne’s family identity, a marriage register lists her last name as “Whateley,” though this could’ve been a simple clerical error—her father was believed to be Richard Hathaway of the village of Shottery in the parish of Stratford-upon-Avon, according to History.com.
Richard is known to have had seven children, but lists one as Agnes—not Anne—in his will. Given that names weren’t as rigid at the time and there is documentation of other Agneses referred to as Anne, it’s entirely plausible his daughter used both names.
“[Richard] died a year before she and William married, and he left her a very generous dowry,” O’Farrell told the Folger Shakespeare Library in 2020. “He described her as, ‘My daughter Agnes,’ which…it was a bit of a thunderbolt moment for me because I thought, ‘Obviously, spelling in Elizabethan times was a lot less stable than it is now, but if anyone would know her real name, it would be her father.’”
Was Agnes pregnant when she married Shakespeare?
Both O’Farrell and Hamnet director Chloé Zhao showcase William and Agnes’ courtship and the circumstances surrounding their November 1582 wedding.
The real Hathaway wed Shakespeare when she was around 26 years old, and the playwright was only 18. As the movie accurately shows, she was pregnant with their eldest daughter Susanna (Bodhi Rae Breathnach) at the time of their marriage.
Although Hamnet portrays their pregnancy and wedding as somewhat scandalous—Agnes’ stepmother evicts her from the family household—there was no need for a “shotgun wedding” at the time. As many as one-third of women were noticeably pregnant before marriage, and those couples didn’t face church or civic discipline, Lena Cowen Orlin, a Georgetown University professor, told History.com.
Was Agnes really clairvoyant?
Hamnet depicts Agnes with a special connection to nature. She keeps a pet hawk, is skilled in using herbs as medicine, and can seemingly predict the future by touching people’s hands. She envisions William (Paul Mescal) as a successful playwright, while foreseeing her own death as a mother of two children.
However, there are no documents that suggest Agnes was clairvoyant or had supernatural abilities. O’Farrell added this in her novel to offer a possible explanation for her unusual marriage to Shakespeare. He was legally considered a minor and essentially bankrupt at the time of their vows.
“Why did she marry him? Why did she choose this penniless, wage-less 18-year-old? I suppose if that question was asked of it, I thought, ‘Well, maybe she saw something in him. Maybe she looked at him and realized he was extraordinary, that he was a genius, that he was peerless in that sense,’” she explained. “So I suppose that that’s where this kind of grew from; that maybe she was the one person who could see into his soul and see what he was capable of.”
Did William and Agnes have three children?
Yes, William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway had three children. According to baptism records at the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon, their eldest daughter Susanna was born sometime around May 26, 1583, and the pair had twins Judith and Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe) sometime around February 2, 1585.
Otherwise, little is definitively known about their respective childhoods. However, it is accurate that Shakespeare left his wife and children to advance his writing career, relocating to London in 1589.
Did Hamnet Shakespeare actually die from the plague?
The emotional tone of Hamnet takes a dramatic turn with the death of the titular Shakespeare son.
In the movie, Hamnet’s twin sister Judith (played by Olivia Lynes) becomes ill from the plague, prompting her sibling to try and “trick” death into taking his life instead. While Judith’s condition improves, Hamnet indeed contracts the disease and dies.
While parish burial records indicate the real Hamnet died at age 11 sometime around August 11, 1596, they don’t attribute a cause of death. Only five burials were recorded at the Holy Trinity Church in August 1596—an average number that doesn’t suggest a major health epidemic such as a plague outbreak, Amy Hurst, an archivist at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, previously explained.
Still, no other documentation of Hamnet’s death is known to exist—meaning scholars can’t definitely know if the plague was responsible.
Was Shakespeare present for his son’s funeral?
In Hamnet, Shakespeare returns home from London to discover his late son’s body in preparation for viewing and burial.
In reality, it’s unknown how quickly Shakespeare learned of his son’s death, or if he was present for the funeral. Church records cite Hamnet’s burial on August 11, 1596, and this typically occurred within two to three days of the individual’s passing.
If Shakespeare was in London at the time, it would have taken multiple days just for news of Hamnet’s death to reach him—meaning the events of the movie likely didn’t occur.
Did Agnes and her brother attend the first performance of Hamlet?
According to the movie, Shakespeare returns to London following Hamnet’s death, angering Agnes, and contemplates suicide. Instead, he is emboldened to continue working on Hamlet.
The movie reaches an emotional climax when, sometime later, Agnes and her brother Bartholomew (Joe Alwyn) attend the first production of Hamlet in London. Shakespeare portrays the ghost of the titular character’s late father in a scene that seemingly reflects his real-life grief. The film concludes with Agnes reaching out to touch the hand of the actor playing Hamlet, and she envisions her real son in a moment of catharsis.
However, there is no record of Agnes attending any production of Hamlet, let alone the first, at the Globe theater. So, it’s impossible to know if any similar scenes happened in real life.
Zhao spoke about the ending with Vanity Fair, revealing the production team built a 70-percent-scale replica of the Globe. The audience includes hundreds of background actors.
“We were all waiting for this moment,” Zhao said. “Did Hamlet actually have this moment in the original production? Maybe, maybe not—we don’t know…. But by the time we got there, the veil between past and future, real life and fiction, was very, very thin.”
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.
