Shakespeare & Hathaway: The Second Best Bed

"The course of true love never did run smooth."

Shakespeare’s Family Circle, George Edward Perine, a 19th-century German engraving depicting Shakespeare and his family (see *Images below)

William Shakespeare, a Renaissance playwright and poet, is considered to be England’s greatest writer, and his work has been celebrated for more than four hundred years. But, with few records still in existence, his life is shrouded in mystery, leading to several Shakespeare myths: was he bisexual, did he attend school, did he write his own plays and the one we will examine in this essay - did he love his wife?

There’s beggary in the love that can be reckoned.

Antony and Cleopatra, Act 1, scene 1, line 16