Is Hamnet Based on a True Story?

Directed by Chloé Zhao, ‘Hamnet’ is the haunting story of William Shakespeare, his wife Agnes, and their son Hamnet. After falling in love, Agnes and William get married and become parents to Hamnet and his twin sister Judith. The family spends happy times in the countryside, where Hamnet takes an interest in acting while William begins to write his stories. The father and son share a close bond, recognizing the creativity in each other. What seems like a happy life is struck by a sudden tragedy that leads William and Agnes down a road of grief and loss.

Due to the irreversible tragedy, William is convinced by Agnes to pursue his talents as a writer by traveling to London. As the writer deals with deeply personal emotions, he finds the inspiration to write the play ‘Hamlet,’ which becomes one of his greatest works. The historical drama film delves into the intertwining of tragedy and art, the value of familial bonds, and the intricacies of the parent-child relationship. SPOILERS AHEAD.

Hamnet Reflects the Essence of Maggie O’Farrell’s Fictional Novel

‘Hamnet’ is written by the aforementioned director, along with co-writer Maggie O’Farrell, whose eponymous novel is the basis of the film. The novel is a fictional retelling of the life of William Shakespeare and his relationship with his son Hamnet in 1580s Warwickshire, centering on marriage, family, and a mother’s grief following the death of their son from the plague. The film captures the essence of the novel, while also adding its own flavor to the tragic story. William Shakespeare is never actually named in the novel, as it focuses on the perspective of Agnes, the main character in spirit. Agnes is described as a woman defined by her profound devotion to her family, a knack for supernatural healing, and occasional premonitions of the future.

The film captures the spirit of the novel through its portrayal of the death of the young boy Hamnet and the aftermath of this incident, which leaves Agnes and William heartbroken. It explores Agnes’ grief, while also examining how the untimely death inspired William to write ‘Hamlet.’ While there are some parallels between the events in the novel and those in the life of William Shakespeare, the book largely stems from the author’s own creativity, which makes it a captivating work of literature. The real-life William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway got married in 1582, when the latter was reportedly pregnant.

Anne was also referred to as “Agnes,” which is the name utilized in the film. Meanwhile, William Shakespeare is often referred to as “Will” in the narrative. The film exists in a complex realm between fiction and reality, where the creation of the characters is informed by certain real-life happenings, which cannot be fully confirmed. In reality, Shakespeare and Anne, both born in Stratford-upon-Avon, had three children, namely Susanna, born in 1583, and twins Judith and Hamnet, born in 1585. While Shakespeare worked as a playwright and actor in London, traveling back and forth, Anne stayed with the children. In 1596, Hamnet died at age 11, though the cause is unknown to historians. In the novel, Hamnet is a spirited boy who dies of the bubonic plague.

The Narrative Sheds Light on the Possible Inspiration Behind Shakespeare’s Hamlet

The book links Hamnet’s death to Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet,’ written between 1599 and 1601. O’Farrell learned that Hamnet and Hamlet were interchangeable names in Elizabethan England, a fact that inspired the book. Thus, the film and the novel both establish an emotional connection between the death of the boy and the play, showcasing the relationship between grief and art. Though there is no physical evidence to prove that William Shakespeare dedicated or based his play on the death of his son, a strong connection is implied as the words “Hamnet” and “Hamlet” sound similar.

A 2025 BBC report sheds light on the possible relationship between the boy Hamnet and the play Hamlet. The report suggests that Shakespeare may have deeply felt the death of his son Hamnet, which is why he possibly wrote Hamlet a few years later, but it is ultimately a matter of speculation. Since there is no historical evidence that provides a deeply accurate representation of William Shakespeare’s life, it largely depends on how historians interpret the known facts. Ultimately, ‘Hamnet’ is a fictional story of grief that reflects the spirit of the eponymous novel and certain presumed realities in the life of William Shakespeare.

Hamnet is a Poignant Navigation of Parental Grief

Although a fictional story, ‘Hamnet’ is a deeply moving film on grief and art, which stems from the death of Hamnet in the narrative. It is a grounded and haunting portrayal that particularly focuses on the loss of a child and the kind of impact it has on parents. William Shakespeare goes into a state of emotional fragility, while Agnes becomes overwhelmed by the shocking death of their son. The story depicts the way in which they navigate this difficult time, especially through the power of art. Agnes tells her husband to pursue his writing talent. He ultimately utilizes it to pay tribute to his son through Hamlet’s character in the play, which becomes one of his most popular works.

In an interview with Variety, the director Chloé Zhao spoke about her approach to the emotional dynamics of the film. She said, “When there’s great tragedy, you don’t have to give it a narrative like something’s wrong. You can look at it like it’s winter, fall coming to winter, and the more one can sustain the discomfort of winter, the more beautiful and glorious the summer is going to be.” The story also takes a deep dive into motherly grief through the character of Agnes. Her character reflects the feminine side of grief, while also giving the real-life Anne Hathaway a different kind of representation that drifts away from the male-centered approach.

The Story Conveys a Female Perspective on Loss Through Agnes Shakespeare

Talking to Awards Watch, Jessie Buckley, who plays Agnes in the movie, opined that she previously didn’t know much about Anne Hathaway. The actress added that historical accounts often wrongly portray women as hindrances to the works of great men. However, Shakespeare’s profound female characters like Lady Macbeth or Juliet demonstrate that he couldn’t have created such complex humanity without knowing women like them in his life. Agnes is represented in the narrative from the point of view of a mother with her own struggles, and not merely as Shakespeare’s wife. History often tends to ignore the female experience, but the narrative intends to bring Agnes’ perspective to the forefront and depict her intense journey of motherhood.

One pivotal aspect of the film is the way it portrays how William and Agnes respond differently to tragedy. This is where the differences between the “male” and “female”  journeys become important. In an interview with Gold Derby, Paul Mescal, who portrays William Shakespeare in the film, expressed, “What the film is saying is that Agnes expresses her grief in a very different way to William. It takes time for Will to express the grief that he’s feeling around the death of his son, and he has to leave to express that. I don’t know if it’s a male thing, but I also do understand that feeling of ‘I don’t want people to see it, I don’t want people to see my grief of I’m grieving something,’ and that’s true of Will, too.”

Agnes and William, as parents, have different ways of living and expressing grief, which becomes one of the most important elements of the narrative. It treats grief as a complex phenomenon, and also looks at Agnes and William as human beings with the capacity for raw emotions. Ultimately, ‘Hamnet’ is an imaginary tale that has some connection to reality, but it ultimately remains a grounded depiction of grief through the lives of the main characters.

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