Anne Hathaway (1556 – August 6, 1623) was the wife of William Shakespeare. Little is known about her. Events January 16 - Abdication of Emperor Charles V. His son, Philip II becomes King of Spain, while his brother Ferdinand becomes Holy Roman Emperor January 23 - The Shaanxi earthquake, the deadliest earthquake in history, occurs with its epicenter in Shaanxi province, China. ... August 6 is the 218th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (219th in leap years), with 147 days remaining. ... Events August 6 - Pope Urban VIII is elected to the Papacy. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

Life

The reputed Hathaway cottage near Stratford.

Anne Hathaway is believed to have grown up in Shottery, a small village just to the west of Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. A cottage said to be the Hathaway family home is located at Shottery, and is a major tourist attraction for the village. Documentary evidence of the claim's authenticity is, however, lacking. Photo of Anne Hathaways cottage taken by Michael Rogers 2002. ... Photo of Anne Hathaways cottage taken by Michael Rogers 2002. ... Shottery is a small village just west of Stratford-Upon-Avon, however it is considered a part of the town. ... Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon is a town in Warwickshire, England. ... Warwickshire (pronounced either /ˈwɔːɹɪkˌʃə/ or /ˈwɔːɹɪkˌʃɪə/) is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in central England. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population - Total (mid-2004) - Density Ranked 1st UK 50. ...

Hathaway married Shakespeare in November of 1582 while pregnant with his child. Hathaway was 26 years old when she married, whereas Shakespeare was only 18. This age difference, and Hathaway's pregnancy has been used by some historians as evidence that this was a "shotgun wedding" forced on a reluctant Shakespeare by Hathaway's family. They also infer that Shakespeare's persistent travelling suggested an unloving marriage. There is, however, no source evidence for this suggestion. Three children were born by her: Events January 15 - Russia cedes Livonia and Estonia to Poland February 24 - Pope Gregory XIII implements the Gregorian Calendar. ... A shotgun wedding is a type of wedding which is arranged not because of the desire of the participants, but to avoid embarrassment due to an unintentional pregnancy. ...

• Susanna in 1583
• Twins Hamnet and Judith in 1585

For most of their married life, Shakespeare travelled around the country, writing and performing his plays, while Hathaway stayed in Stratford. In Shakespeare's will Anne was left his second-best bed. This should not be taken as a slur, for the 'best bed' is actually a reference to someone's coffin and final resting place. The seond best bed, therefore, would be the one they slept in throughout their marriage. 1583 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. ... 1585 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. ...

References in Shakespeare's poems

One of Shakespeare's sonnets, number 145, has been claimed to make reference to Anne Hathaway; the words 'hate away' may be a pun (in Elizabethan pronunciation) on 'Hathaway'. Shakespeares sonnets comprise a collection of 154 poems in sonnet form that deal with such themes as love,* beauty, politics, and mortality. ...

Those lips that Love's own hand did make

Breathed forth the sound that said 'I hate'

To me that languish'd for her sake;

But when she saw my woeful stat

Straight in her heart did mercy come,

Chiding that tongue that ever sweet

Was used in giving gentle doom,

And taught it thus anew to greet:

'I hate' she alter'd with an end,

That follow'd it as gentle day

Doth follow night, who like a fiend

From heaven to hell is flown away;

'I hate' from hate away she threw,

And saved my life, saying 'not you.'

The following poem has been attributed to Shakespeare but its authenticity is uncertain:

But were it to my fancy given

To rate her charms, I'd call them heaven;

For though a mortal made of clay,

Angels must love Ann Hathaway;

She hath a way so to control,

To rapture the imprisoned soul,

And sweetest heaven on earth display,

That to be heaven Ann hath a way;

She hath a way,

Ann Hathaway,–

To be heaven's self Ann hath a way.

References in later texts

A trend in (mostly fanciful) speculation on Hathway is to imagine her as a sexually incontinent cradle-robber, or, alternatively, a frigid shrew. Age disparity in sexual relationships is a controversial topic although common among both heterosexual and homosexual couples in many cultures and societies. ... Inhibited sexual desire (ISD), sometimes called frigidity, sexual aversion, Sexual apathy or Hypoactive sexual desire, refers to a low level of sexual desire and interest manifested by a failure to initiate or be responsive to a partners initiation of sexual activity. ... Taming of the Shrew by Augustus Egg The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare. ...

The first view is given by James Joyce's character Stephen Dedalus, in both A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Ulysses, where Dedalus makes a number of references to Hathaway [1]. In Ulysses, he speculates that the gift of the infamous "secondbest bed" was a punishment for her adultery [2], while in the earlier Portrait, Dedalus analyses Shakespeare's marriage with a terrible pun: "[h]e chose badly? He was chosen, it seems to me. If others have their will Ann hath a way." [3] James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (February 2, 1882 – January 13, 1941) was an expatriate Irish writer and poet, widely considered a significant writer of the 20th century. ... Stephen Daedalus was James Joyces early pen name, and the name of the main character in his early novel Stephen Hero. ... A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age novel by James Joyce, published in 1916. ... The first edition of Ulysses was published in 1922. ... Adultery is generally defined as consensual sexual intercourse by a married person with someone other than their lawful spouse. ... A pun (also known as paronomasia) is a figure of speech which consists of a deliberate confusion of similar words or phrases for rhetorical effect, whether humorous or serious. ...

The romantic comedy film Shakespeare in Love provides an example of the second view, depicting the marriage as a cold and loveless bond that Shakespare must escape to find love in London. Romantic comedy films are a sub-genre of comedy films as well as of romance films. ... Shakespeare in Love is a 1998 motion picture. ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ...

External link

• Anne Hathaway, wife of Shakespeare
• Hathway and Shakespeare's marriage license