SHAKESPEARE MAY NOT HAVE ABANDONED ANNE

Revelations in 'ignored' letter

- ERIC WILLIAMS News Reporter

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.