Shakespeare may not have abandoned wife, previously ‘ignored’ letter reveals

William Shakespeare may not have abandoned his wife, a previously “ignored” 17th century letter has revealed, undermining a centuries-old consensus among scholars.

For more than 200 years, it has been assumed that the playwright had an unhappy relationship with his wife, Anne Hathaway, and that he left her in Stratford-upon-Avon to pursue a writing career in London.

But new research by an academic at the University of Bristol has revealed that the true dynamics of the bard’s relationship may have been different.

Matthew Steggle, a professor of early modern English, analysed a fragment of a 17th century letter addressed to “good Mrs Shakespeare”, which appears to show the couple living together in London between 1600 and 1610.

The letter, which had been preserved by chance in a book binding in Hereford Cathedral library, is the first piece of evidence that has been found pointing to Anne living in London with her husband.

Professor Steggle told the PA news agency: “When I first came across it I was a bit puzzled, wondering why it (the letter) wasn’t better known and why there wasn’t much more of a debate about it.”

He added: “It’s just sort of been ignored by most Shakespeare scholars.”

The letter documents a financial dispute between Shakespeare and an orphan boy called John Butts, with the letter’s author requesting that Mrs Shakespeare pay the boy a sum of money which her husband allegedly owes.

In response, Mrs Shakespeare appears to stand by her husband and to tell the author to find the money elsewhere.

“The Romantic poets, people who were interested in Shakespeare in the early 19th century, came up with this narrative that really appealed to them of a Shakespeare trapped into marrying this kind of country yokel,” Professor Steggle continued.

“Then he goes away and makes his fortune in London and forgets her and has lots of interesting adventures in London before coming back and retiring to Stratford.”

“All he gives her in his will is the ‘second best bed’!”

But according to Prof Steggle, the new research suggests that “maybe Anne Hathaway is a more interesting figure than has been thought”.

While the letter was discovered in 1978, it remained stitched into the book binding until more recently, concealing one side of its text.

Professor Steggle’s research saw him pore through old records, looking for an apprentice matching the boy’s description, before he eventually found one likely match.

Over centuries of combing the archives, historians have found records of only four married couples with the ‘Shakespeare’ surname in London in the correct date range.

With the information on the apprentice, Professor Steggle narrowed those four down to one couple who could have resided in Trinity Lane, a relatively wealthy part of London at the time to the south of St Paul’s Cathedral.

Discussing the attention his research has attracted, Professor Steggle said: “It’s nice, because people are all doing this really cool work in English studies and you do all this research and by and large … I wouldn’t say nobody cares, but it normally doesn’t come to media attention.”