Any clue about William Shakespeare’s life usually excites scholars, but one piece of evidence had been neglected for decades. Now, a new analysis of that overlooked document seems to shatter a long-standing narrative about the Bard’s bad marriage.
Shakespeare was 18 in 1582 when he married Anne Hathaway, daughter of a family friend in Stratford-upon-Avon, in her mid-20s and pregnant. For centuries, it was thought he left his wife and children behind for a literary life in London, seeking to avoid “the humiliation of domestic feuds”, as one 19th-century essayist put it. This view of Shakespeare’s wife as a “distant encumbrance” suited scholars who thought “Shakespeare was far too interesting to be a married guy,” said Matthew Steggle, a professor at University of Bristol, England. The perception was bolstered by the fact that Shakespeare had left her his “second best bed” in his will. But Steggle’s research, expected to be published this week in the journal Shakespeare, suggests the writer was not detached from his marriage after all.
The hint lies in a fragment of a 17th-century letter addressing a “Mrs Shakspaire,” found in the binding of a book published in 1608. The letter was noted in 1978 by an amateur historian, but got minimal attention, even after the book was unbound in 2016, revealing what appeared to be part of a reply from Shakespeare’s wife, Steggle said.
If it really was addressed to Mrs Shakespeare, “it is self-evidently remarkable,” Steggle said – it offers new clues about their relationship, and suggests Mrs Shakespeare lived for a time in London with her husband. If she did live in London, she was possibly back in Stratford by the time she received the letter, around 1607 – though not necessarily because her husband wanted independence. Steggle says “there is an obvious reason to avoid London in 1603-4, namely the very bad wave of plague”. Also, the upcoming arrival of their first grandchild after daughter Susanna’s 1607 marriage “would surely be a good time” for Hathaway to be back in Stratford.
Steggle says her movements should be reconsidered with an eye to her “possible absences from London rather than her perpetual absence”. The letter concerned money for a fatherless child named John. It called upon her to pay money, most likely held in trust for him, a pledge her husband may have undertaken, and referred to a time when she “dwelt in trinitie lane,” which Steggle believes refers to a location in London.

Prof. Aninun Nishat, a leading water resource and climate change specialist in Dhaka. Photo: Special arrangement

NEW DELHI India’s decision to hold the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan ‘in abeyance’ has proved that India will not hesitate to use water as a “weapon” in case political relations with common riparian neighbours nosedive, a leading water expert of Bangladesh has remarked.

Speaking to The Hindu, Prof. Aninun Nishat, a leading water resource and climate change specialist in Dhaka said the decision to freeze the Indus Waters Treaty has “cast a shadow” on the prospects of renewal of the 1996 Ganga Waters Agreement.

“When Dhaka signed the Indo-Bangladesh Ganga Water Treaty, there were doubts on our side on whether India would really share Ganga’s waters as promised as the actual control of the river is with India. The Indus Waters Treaty is a big treaty that was ratified by the Indian parliament. Critics here can cite the decision on Indus and argue that India’s assurances on the Ganga equally has no value,” said Prof. Nishat who has been part of several river-related discussions between India and Bangladesh.

The Indo-Bangladesh Ganga Water Treaty was signed on December 12, 1996 between Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during what was the first prime ministerial tenure of Sheikh Hasina. The treaty provides Bangladesh with a minimum flow of water during the lean seasons and it can be renewed with “mutual consent” after three decades. Accordingly, the treaty will come up for renewal in 2026. “Renewal of the Ganga treaty will come up next year but if India continues to hold the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance then it will create doubts about India’s willingness on sharing of river waters with Bangladesh,” said Prof. Nishat.

The renewal of the Indo-Bangladesh Ganga Water Treaty has featured in official talks between the two on multiple occasions in the recent past. The matter came up during the June 2024 India visit by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina which was her last state visit before the uprising of July-August 2024 that led to her flight from Bangladesh.

Subsequently, the interim government under Chief Advisor Prof. Mohammed Yunus has maintained the dialogue on Ganga. A meeting of the technical teams of the Joint Rivers Commission of India and Bangladesh was held in Kolkata on March 6, 2025 where the main subject of discussion was the Indo-Bangladesh Ganga Water Treaty. The Bangladesh team also visited the joint observation site at Farakka on this occasion.

Prof. Nishat said treaties are legal documents and it is generally understood that such documents would remain unaffected by political sentiments. “But in the case of Indus, it appears that the political sentiment can affect the legal document,” said Prof. Nishat hinting that India is not averse to using water as a “weapon” if political differences increase. “Apart from Ganga, Bangladesh also has the issue of the sharing of Teesta’s waters and Dhaka has agreed to China’s participation in management of Teesta in Bangladesh,” the professor said, explaining that political differences between Bangladesh and India have been increasing in recent months.

Under the interim government  led by Prof. Yunus, which is against many initiatives of the Hasina era, Dhaka has warmed up its relations with China as well as Pakistan. Last week, Pakistan and Bangladesh had a rare Foreign Secretary-level talk in Dhaka which was to be followed by a visit of the Foreign Minister of Pakistan Ishaq Dar who has courted controversy by describing the terrorists responsible for the massacre in Pahalgam as “freedom fighters”. Mr. Dar’s visit to Dhaka has been cancelled for the time being in view of the prevailing India-Pak tension.