Let's Talk Shakespeare: Did Shakespeare Love his Wife?

Nov 14, 2015, 12:30 PM

Episode two of Let's Talk Shakespeare from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

In the second episode of Let’s Talk Shakespeare, I asked “Did Shakespeare love his wife?”. This question has tantalised for years, we have so frustrating little evidence of their relationship, in truth all we know for certain is that they married, had three children, and stayed married until William's death in 1616. In this weeks podcast we discuss how they may have met, the unusual circumstances in which they married, what Williams prolonged absence from his family while he was in London may have meant for his wife and children, and of course the frustratingly vague reference to his wife in his will.

This weeks guests on the podcast are:

  • Professor Stanley Wells, Honorary President of the SBT 
  • Professor Michael Dobson, Director of the Shakespeare Institute 
  • Dr Elizabeth Dollimore, Outreach and Primary Learning Manager a the SBT 
  • Dr Tara Hamling, Senior Lecturer in Early Modern history at Birmingham University 
  • Ben Crystal, actor, writer and producer

You can find the show notes for this episode on our blog: https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/podcast/did-shakespeare-love-his-wife/