When Does the Stageplay "HAMNET" (2023) Take Place?
"HAMNET" is a historical fiction stageplay written by Lolita Chakrabarti [adapting "HAMNET: a novel of the plague" (2020) by Maggie O'Farrell] that released April 1st, 2023. So when is "HAMNET" set?
It takes place in the years:
We know this because in a very early scene the real-world playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616)] marries the real-world Anne/Agnes Hathaway (1556-1623) and this happened in late November of 1582 AD. So the story must start in mid 1582 AD when they first meet an unknown number of months earlier as Agnes is already noticeably pregnant before the day of their marriage. It is specifically November of 1582 AD at the point of their wedding later.
1582 AD - 1601 AD
We know this because in a very early scene the real-world playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616)] marries the real-world Anne/Agnes Hathaway (1556-1623) and this happened in late November of 1582 AD. So the story must start in mid 1582 AD when they first meet an unknown number of months earlier as Agnes is already noticeably pregnant before the day of their marriage. It is specifically November of 1582 AD at the point of their wedding later.
Later, the narrative concludes on the night of an early performance of the stageplay "Hamlet" (1600), performed as early as 1599 AD or as late as 1601 AD (according to most scholars) in the real world. So it is either 1599 AD, 1600 AD, or 1601 AD when the audience arrives at the end.
Additionally, there is a prologue that gives us a first quick window to the current status of the Shakespeare family just before their real-world son Hamnet Shakespeare (1585-1596) becomes ill in 1596 AD.
