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Quotes
Agnes
Agnes is tutor’s wife; they have three children, Susanna, Hamnet, and Judith. Agnes’s mother, Rowan, was a wild and powerful woman who frequently exposed her children to nature. Agnes thus…
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William Shakespeare
Described in the book by the various relationships he has to other characters and never by his proper name, William Shakespeare is Agnes’s wife. They have three children, Susanna, Hamnet, and Judith…
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Hamnet
Hamnet is only son of Agnes and the tutor; he is Susanna’s younger brother and Judith’s twin. Of the twins, he is the larger and stronger. He has a quick, agile mind…
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Judith
Judith is Hamnet’s twin sister and is the youngest—and frailest—of Agnes’s and the tutor’s three children. Born second, at first, the midwife and Mary don’t expect Judith to survive. She does thanks…
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Susanna
Susanna is the eldest child of Agnes and the tutor; she is the older sister to twins Hamnet and Judith. An imaginative child when she was quite young, as she grows, Susanna nevertheless…
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Get the entire Hamnet LitChart as a printable PDF.
John
John is Mary’s and the father of the tutor, Eliza, Gilbert, Richard, and Edmond. He is prone to excessive drinking, outbursts of anger, and physical abuse of his children…
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Mary
Mary is John’s wife and the mother of the tutor, Eliza, Gilbert, Richard, Edmond, and three children who died in infancy or childhood, including Anne. She is a…
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Bartholomew
Bartholomew is Agnes’s younger brother and the only son of the farmer and his first wife, Rowan. When his father dies, Bartholomew inherits the farm, with the provision that his stepmother Joan be…
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Eliza
Eliza is John’s and Mary’s only living daughter. She the tutors sister and has three other brothers, Gilbert, Richard, and Edmond. She shares a name with her parents’ firstborn…
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Joan
Joan is the farmer’s second wife; after their marriage, she becomes Agnes and Bartholomew’s stepmother. Her children with the farmer are James, Thomas, Caterina, Joanie, Margaret, and William…
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Farmer
With his first wife, Agnes’s mother, the farmer fathered Agnes and Bartholomew. He subsequently remarried Joan and with her, had Thomas, James, Caterina, Joanie, Margaret, and William…
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Minor Characters
Agnes’s Mother/Rowan
Rowan is the farmer’s first wife and Agnes and Bartholomew’s mother. She raises them until her death in childbirth with her third baby. She loved the forest and the wild places, and Agnes feels her spiritual presence at key moments in her own life.
Anne
Anne was one of John’s and Mary’s children, the sister of the tutor, Eliza, Gilbert, Richard, and Edmond. She died at age eight of plague.
Gilbert
Gilbert is one of John’s and Mary’s sons; his siblings are the tutor, Eliza, Richard, and Edmond. He is John’s favorite child because he is aggressive and competitive.
Richard
Richard is one of John’s and Mary’s sons; his siblings are the tutor, Eliza, Gilbert, and Edmond. Richard is Mary’s favorite child.
Edmond
Edmond is the youngest of John’s and Mary’s children; his siblings are the tutor, Eliza, Gilbert, and Richard. He favors Eliza and his brother the tutor best of all his siblings; one day he will follow the tutor to London and into the theater.
Caterina
Caterina is the oldest daughter of the farmer and Joan. Her half siblings are Agnes and Bartholomew, and her full siblings are James, Thomas, Joanie, Margaret, and William.
Joanie
Joanie is the middle daughter of the farmer and Joan. Her half siblings are Agnes and Bartholomew, and her full siblings are James, Thomas, Caterina, Margaret, and William.
Margaret
Margaret is the youngest daughter of the farmer and Joan. Her half siblings are Agnes and Bartholomew, and her full siblings are James, Thomas, Caterina, Joanie, and William.
James
James is a son of the farmer and Joan. His half siblings are Agnes and Bartholomew, and his full siblings are Thomas, Caterina, Joanie, Margaret, and William.
Thomas
Thomas is a son of the farmer and Joan. His half siblings are Agnes and Bartholomew, and his full siblings are James, Caterina, Joanie, Margaret, and William.
William
William is the youngest son and youngest child of the farmer and Joan. His half siblings are Agnes and Bartholomew, and his full siblings are James, Thomas, Caterina, Joanie, and Margaret.
Midwife
The midwife in Stratford delivered several of Mary’s children and Agnes’s twins Judith and Hamnet. She has a connection to the spirit world and tells Judith about seeing Hamnet’s ghost after his death.
Ned
Ned is John’s apprentice in the glove-making shop. He sometimes serves as witness for events that happen in the house.
Cabin Boy
The cabin boy is a young man from the Isle of Mann who sails on a merchant ship through the Mediterranean Sea. In playing with a monkey, he picks up the fleas that ultimately bring the plague to Stratford in the summer of 1596.
