13 Facts About Hamnet Shakespeare

Hamnet Shakespeare was the only son of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway, and the fraternal twin of Judith Shakespeare.

Hamnet Shakespeare was probably raised principally by his mother Anne in the Henley Street house belonging to his grandfather.

At the time his son died, Shakespeare was writing primarily comedies, and that writing continued until a few years after Hamnet's death when his major tragedies were written.

Biographical readings, in which critics would try to connect passages in the plays and sonnets to specific events in Hamnet Shakespeare's life, are at least as old as the Romantic period.

Hamnet Shakespeare had been deliberately rebaptised by his new creator.

Richard Wheeler theorises that Hamnet Shakespeare's death influenced the writing of Twelfth Night, which centres on a girl who believes that her twin brother has died.

Hamnet Shakespeare suggests that Hamnet is the so-called Fair Youth.

Hamnet Shakespeare appears in one of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman comics, "A Midsummer Night's Dream", in which he is seen accompanying his father and playing the role of the changeling boy.

Hamnet Shakespeare appears as a character in the 2018 film All Is True, written by Ben Elton.

The largely fictionalised plot revolves around William Shakespeare coming to terms with Hamnet's death and his relationship with his family.

Irish novelist Maggie O'Farrell's 2020 book Hamnet Shakespeare is a fictional account of the life of Hamnet Shakespeare.

Hamnet Shakespeare is a character in the BBC comedy drama series Upstart Crow, about the life of William Shakespeare in London and Stratford-upon-Avon.

Hamnet Shakespeare's death occurs in the final episode of series 3.