Shakespeare’s will analysed
Research has shown that William Shakespeare has made several drafts to his will, with the first in March 1613, when his shares in The Globe theatre were sold. Research has shown that William Shakespeare has made several drafts to his will, with the first in March 1613, when his shares in The Globe theatre were sold.
London - William Shakespeare has for centuries been accused of being mean and indifferent to his wife for leaving her only his ‘second best bed’ in his will.
But while it has long looked to many like one of the least romantic lines in the playwright’s oeuvre, it was actually a loving addition to the document made in the last months of his life, scholars declared on Sunday.
The re-interpretation of the Bard’s will follows analysis of the paper using X-ray technology and near infrared light, plus the first scientific analysis of the ink used to pen the manuscript.
Conservators at The National Archives say the results indicate that page two was drafted at a different time to pages one and three – disproving the existing theory the will was written in one sitting – and that at least four or five different inks were used at different times.
Dr Hannah Crumme, Shakespeare researcher at the archives, said the ink used to write ‘second best bed’ appeared to be the same as that used to make corrections and additions in March 1616, the month before he died.
‘That suggests it was a conscious, poignant bequest to his wife which was thought through and not a slight at all,’ she said.
Shakespeare wed Anne Hathaway in 1582, when he was 18 and she was 26. She did not receive anything else in the will.
Daily Mail