The new film Hamnet, directed by Chloé Zhao and based on Maggie O’Farrell’s award-winning novel, brings to life one of literature’s most poignant mysteries. The story is a fictional account rooted in the few known facts about William Shakespeare’s family, focusing on his wife Agnes and the devastating loss of their only son, Hamnet. The film explores how this personal tragedy may have led to the creation of one of the most famous plays ever written, Hamlet.
The Real Historical Figures
William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway, who is referred to as Agnes in the film following her father’s will, were married in 1582. He was 18 years old, and she was 26 and already pregnant with their first child. The couple had three children: Susanna, and twins named Judith and Hamnet. The twins were likely named after family friends, the baker Hamnet Sadler and his wife, Judith.
Hamnet Shakespeare was baptized on February 2, 1585, and buried on August 11, 1596, at just 11 years old. The cause of his death was not recorded, a common practice in Elizabethan England where infant and child mortality was tragically high. Historians note that about one in three children died before the age of 10. Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, which serves as the basis for the film, builds its story around the strong possibility that he died of the bubonic plague, which was rampant in Stratford during that time.
“I got slightly sidetracked by how badly history and scholarship has treated his wife, the woman we’ve been taught to call Anne Hathaway. We’ve only ever really been given one narrative about her,” O’Farrell said, explaining her motivation to reframe the story around Agnes.
The Central Mystery of Hamnet’s Death
The film, like the novel, depicts Hamnet’s death as a result of the plague, but this is a creative decision. The historical record is silent on what actually killed the boy. Scholars have proposed various theories, including the plague, dysentery, typhus, or even complications from birth as a twin.
In the film’s narrative, Hamnet’s twin sister, Judith, falls ill with the pestilence. In a moving and magical turn of events, Hamnet somehow takes the sickness upon himself and dies in her place. This fictional moment highlights the deep bond between the twins and serves as the emotional core of the story. The real Hamnet was buried in Stratford-upon-Avon, and it is widely believed that his father, who was working in London with his theatre troupe, could not have made it back in time for the funeral.
The Connection Between Hamnet and Hamlet
The most compelling link between history and art is the name of Shakespeare’s famous play. Hamnet and Hamlet are in fact the same name, entirely interchangeable in the Stratford records of the late 16th century. About four years after Hamnet’s death, Shakespeare wrote The Tragedy of Hamlet.
The film suggests that the play was the playwright’s way of processing his overwhelming grief and perhaps coping with the guilt of being an absent father. In a powerful scene, Agnes travels to London to see the play at the Globe Theatre. She watches as her husband, playing the ghost of Hamlet’s father, shares the stage with an actor who bears a striking resemblance to their dead son. This moment in the story proposes that through his art, Shakespeare found a way to resurrect his son, to say goodbye, and to ensure Hamnet would be remembered forever.
“It’s not nothing to call a play and a tragic hero after your son–it speaks volumes,” O’Farrell told The Guardian. “We may not quite know what the volumes are–but it’s a huge act.”
While scholars continue to debate the directness of the connection, the emotional resonance is undeniable. Stephen Greenblatt, a prominent Shakespeare scholar, agrees that the death of Hamnet must have been a “soul-crushing loss” that likely influenced the writing of Hamlet.
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Reimagining Agnes Hathaway
The film gives a voice to a figure often marginalized by history: Shakespeare’s wife. By calling her Agnes and portraying her as a wise woman with knowledge of herbs and healing, the story challenges the long-held narrative that Anne Hathaway was an illiterate peasant who trapped Shakespeare into a miserable marriage.
Instead, Agnes is shown as a complex, capable, and intuitive partner. She is a skilled herbalist responsible for the health of her household, a common and respected role for women of the era. The film imagines a passionate love story between her and the young Shakespeare, suggesting theirs was a marriage of intellectual and emotional equals, strained by distance and unimaginable loss.
A Story of Grief and Legacy
At its heart, Hamnet is less about the famous playwright and more about the family he left behind in Stratford. It is a story about a mother’s grief, a father’s guilt, and how a personal catastrophe might be transformed into enduring art. The film, released in theaters on November 26, 2025, stars Jessie Buckley as Agnes and Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare.
While the specific conversations and events are fictional, they are built upon a foundation of historical possibility. The film uses the gaps in the historical record to explore universal themes of love, loss, and the power of storytelling to make sense of our deepest pains.
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Credits: Shakespearean Student
