This is one gorgeous book.
Admittedly, the title might turn some people away coz it sounds like a romance fiction about Shakespeare's love life but it's SO not.
It IS about Shakespeare's wife.
The author is a proper historian who digs through tax records, marriage records, burial records, birth certificates, letters etc to unearth the hidden life of Shakespeare's little known domestic life.
It seems that most people believe Ann Shakespeare to be a prototypical shrew, mainly because:
1. William showed no sign of overt affection towards her anywhere in his writings (letters and all)
2. Ann was 8 years older than Will and was 26 when she got married hence was an old maid desperate to nab the first impressionable youngster who passed her way
3. William was driven away by her to London for most of their marriage
4. William was gay (ref. the Sonnets written to a young man)
5. William was supposed to marry another younger woman whom everyone knew was prettier, gentler, kinder and more civil but who couldn't match up to Ann's amazing cunning when it came to trapping a husband.
Well, Greer, and I, don't think she was like that at all.
Greer starts off by giving a general overview of the Ann's and Will's background. Ann Hathway alias Gardner was the daughter and heiress of a rather wealthy farmer in Stratford. She lived in a close-knitted community where everyone knew everyone, and she probably helped her stepmother to run the farm when her father died, hence she was a skilled worker. Her family was quite influential in that region and well respected, therefore it is unlikely that she needed to worry about finding a match. She probably had suitors or matches might have already been made for her by her elders since young. Furthermore, 26 was the norm for getting married in Tudor England so she was hardly desperate. The picture painted here is of a country who led a steady, quiet, predictable and comfortable life.
William, on the other hand, was the son of a glovemaker whose business went bust. Greer attributed this to his mother's desire for status in society thereby prompting her husband to focus on gaining power rather than on his glovemaking business. It was the wife's role to run the family business if the husband's away or otherwise preoccupied. However, seeing as Mary was the pampered youngest daughter of rich farmer, it was understandable that she didn't want to muck around in the glovemaking industry. So, Will's family was quite poor and quite in debt. The family wasn't able to equip him with any skill other than reading and writing. In Tudor England, Will was quite useless.
In this light, it's quite easy to see that it was a step down for Ann to marry Will. She, who was supposed to marry a young man with his own farm, married a boy who could only paint fantasies with words.
That's such a refreshing image of Ann Shakespeare.
Greer goes on to show that Will didn't "run away" from Stratford to escape Ann. In fact, he probably left with her blessings else there were many actions that Ann or her family could've taken against Shakespeare for abandoning his family--a serious offence in those times. She probably thought that it was easier to raise the children by herself and send Will off to London where his talents might be of some use.
She was also an exceptional mother, able to fend her three young children against the plague, several harsh winters and droughts (and this was when her husband was still struggling to settle in London). She ran her own little malt-making factory in New House, placing her quite high up on the ranks of housewives. She was also respected and well-trusted as people left money with her for safe-keeping.
And my favourite image of Ann can be none other than the one of her reading the first compiled publication of Shakespeare's sonnets. Amongst the 154 sonnets, amidst those written to a young man, were those written to an old love. The tone of those sonnets was apologetic, almost regretful and mostly thankful for the loyalty shown by the old lover. Who else can this old love be but Ann Shakespeare? In fact, Ann probably read through the sonnets and chuckled at few, recognising them as the love tokens Will wrote to her during their courtship. Or maybe Will read them out to her before penning down the final draft.
It's just impossible to imagine Ann as a bitter old shrew. I'd rather imagine her to be a comfort and support, the rock of reality that William Shakespeare relied upon through his hectic days in London. It's much nicer that way. Nice to dispel the myth that women were completely cutoff from the lives of great talents. Nice to show that the "wife and best friend" is not a modern concept but one as old as Adam and Eve. And it's good that there's proof of it.
