Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal in a still from "Hamnet" (Credit: Agata Grzybowska © 2025 Universal Pictures)
BEIRUT — William Shakespeare defies the norms of modern celebrity. Some 400 years after his death, he remains the most influential writer in the English language, yet his life is scarcely documented.A curse to biographers and gossips, this silence has been a blessing for fiction writers and filmmakers.The most prominent currently is Chloé Zhao, who collaborated with Maggie O’Farrell to adapt her 2020 novel “Hamnet” for the screen. More from Jim George Khabbaz and the sinking island The film is inspired by the scant traces of Shakespeare’s family in the historical record, and the blithe misogyny of historical and fictional renderings of the playwright’s relationship with his wife, variously named “Anne” and “Agnes.”Agnes attending a performance of "Hamlet," in a still from "Hamnet." (Credit: Agata Grzybowska ©...
BEIRUT — William Shakespeare defies the norms of modern celebrity. Some 400 years after his death, he remains the most influential writer in the English language, yet his life is scarcely documented.A curse to biographers and gossips, this silence has been a blessing for fiction writers and filmmakers.The most prominent currently is Chloé Zhao, who collaborated with Maggie O’Farrell to adapt her 2020 novel “Hamnet” for the screen. More from Jim George Khabbaz and the sinking island The film is inspired by the scant traces of Shakespeare’s family in the historical record, and the blithe misogyny of historical and fictional renderings of the playwright’s relationship with his wife, variously named “Anne” and “Agnes.”Agnes attending a performance of "Hamlet," in a still from "Hamnet." (Credit:...
