Shakespeare's Wife

Shakespeare's Wife by Germaine Greer

Little is known about Shakespeare's wife, Anne Hathaway, but that doesn't stop scholars from trying to figure her out. Many have decided that she must have been the worst of wives, a shrewish, ugly woman who drove her husband off to London. She was, after all, eight years older than Shakespeare and he only left her his second-best bed in his will (they ignore the fact that she would automatically receive 1/3 of his estate). But Germaine Greer looks at Anne Hathaway from a decidedly feminist perspective. She analyzes the documents of the era, especially those pertaining to life in Stratford. This examination brings Elizabethan England to life, revealing a culture vastly different from our own.

Greer presents the possibility of an Anne Shakespeare who was a partner to her husband and a success in her own right. Anne, she points out, was a good catch. Her family ran a successful farm and she had a dowry. Elizabethans married in their mid to late twenties, so at twenty-six, she was no spinster. Will, on the other hand, was underage and from a family in debt up to their ears. He had no occupation that we know of until he went to London. In short, Will got a deal. Women like Anne often ran businesses and farms, usually with their husbands, but sometimes independently. Cottage industry products, like knitted hose and lace, were usually produced by women, as were foodstuffs like beer and cheese. Many men of Shakespeare's class traveled to London on business and stayed away for long periods at a time. They didn't take their families. London wasn't a healthy place for a wife or children. Their lives in the city didn't necessarily reflect on the families they left behind either; what happens in London stays in London and all that. Greer's portrayal of an industrious Anne who supports the family while Will pursues his career is convincing and inspiring. This Anne is no shrew or sad, deserted wife. She is an active, intelligent woman, capable of winning the Bard's love and worthy of keeping it.

While a bit academic, readers interested in history, women's roles or Shakespeare will find plenty of tidbits in this book to keep them reading. And it will give you a whole new perspective on "women's work".