Imagining Shakespeare's Wife: The Afterlife of Anne Hathaway

Synopsis

What Has Been The Appeal Of Anne Hathaway, Both Globally And Temporally, Over The Past Four Hundred Years? Why Does She Continue To Be Reinterpreted And Reshaped? This Book Examines Representations Of Hathaway, From The Earliest Depictions And Details In The Eighteenth Century, To Contemporary Portrayals In Theatre, Biographies And Novels. Residing In The Nexus Between Shakespeare's Life And Works, Hathaway Has Been Constructed To Explain The Women In The Plays But Also Composed From The Material In The Plays. Presenting The Very First Cultural History Of Hathaway, Katherine Scheil Offers A Richly Original Study That Uncovers How The Material Circumstances Of History Affect The Later Reconstruction Of Lives. Preface -- Establishing Anne. Origins -- Forging The Shakespeare Marriage: Anne Hathaway In The Eighteenth And Nineteenth Centuries -- The Legacy Of Anne Hathaway's Cottage -- Imagining Anne. Interlude: Fact And Fiction -- Fit To Marry: Early Imaginary Annes -- Dark Ladies And Faithful Wives: Post-world War Ii Imaginary Annes -- Millennial Anne Hathaways And Women Audiences -- Conclusion. Katherine West Scheil, University Of Minnesota. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.