Dear renoir,
I. Hamnet Shakespeare, and his twin sister Judith, were christened on
2 February 1585, so they were most likely born only short time before.
Hamnet died in Stratford-upon-Avon on 11 August 1596, when he was 11
years old. His sister, by the way, lived to the age of 77.
II. The cause of Hamnet's death is, acording to all sources I found,
unknown. There are speculations that he died of the plague, which is
might be possible; but there is no definite evidence for this and
there was no recorded outbreak of the Black Death in
Stratford-upon-Avon that year. However, there were many diseases, even
common ones, that could lead to death in 16th century England. So it
will remain unknown of what cause Hamnet Shakespeare died.
III. There are no known written words by Shakespeare referring
directly to his son's death. However, it has often been suggested,
that the lines in King John, beginning with "Grief fills the room of
my absent child" (Act III, scene IV), reflects Shakespeare's grief.
The full quote, spoken by the character of Lady Constance, is:
"Grief fills the room up of my absent child,
Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me,
Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words,
Remembers me of all his gracious parts,
Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form;
Then, have I reason to be fond of grief?
Fare you well: had you such a loss as I,
I could give better comfort than you do.
I will not keep this form upon my head,
When there is such disorder in my wit.
O Lord! my boy, my Arthur, my fair son!
My life, my joy, my food, my all the world!
My widow-comfort, and my sorrows' cure!"
Main sources used:
Internet Shakespeare Editions: Shakespeare's Life and Times - Married Life
http://web.uvic.ca/shakespeare/Library/SLTnoframes/life/children.html
About.com: A Shakespeare Timeline - Part 1 (1558-1599)
http://shakespeare.about.com/library/weekly/aa020201a.htm
Absolute Shakespeare: Shakespeare Timeline
http://absoluteshakespeare.com/trivia/timeline/timeline.htm
Shakespeare Online: Shakespeare's Biography
http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/
Books and Writers: William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/shakespe.htm
The Litrix Reading Room: King John, by William Shakespeare - Act III, Scene IV
http://www.litrix.com/kingjohn/kingj007.htm
Shakespeare History Hall Forum: Re: What did Hamnet Shakespeare die
of?, by Nagsheadff
http://starbuck.com/shakespeare/SHAKESPEAREHISTORYhall/messages/230.html
FamilySearch Genealogy Database
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp
Search terms used:
"Hamnett" "william shakespeare"
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=%22Hamnett%22+%22william+shakespeare%22&meta=
"william shakespeare" hamnet judith
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=%22william+shakespeare%22+hamnet+judith&spell=1
"hamnet shakespeare"
://www.google.de/search?q=%22hamnet+shakespeare%22&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=de&meta=
"hamnet shakespeare" 1596
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=%22hamnet+shakespeare%22+1596&meta=
hamnet shakespeare 1596 plague
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=hamnet+shakespeare+1596+plague&btnG=Google+Suche&meta=
hamnet shakespeare 1596 cause
://www.google.de/search?q=hamnet+shakespeare+1596+cause&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=de&meta=
hamnet shakespeare wrote room
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=hamnet+shakespeare+wrote+room&meta=
"king john" "grief fills"
://www.google.de/search?q=%22king+john%22+%22grief+fills%22&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=de&meta=
hamnet plague
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=hamnet+plague&meta=
Hope this answers your questions!
Best regards,
Scriptor |
,
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