Genre
Historical fiction
Setting and Context
Set in the 1580s in Warwickshire
Narrator and Point of View
Third-person omniscient
Tone and Mood
The tone is direct, and the mood is reflective.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The central character is Agnes, and the antagonist is John Shakespeare.
Major Conflict
There is a major conflict between Agnes and her hidden supernatural powers. Agnes doubts her powers when her son, Hamnet, dies at eleven. Despite being a powerful woman, Agnes cannot prevent the death that strikes her family.
Climax
The climax comes when Shakespeare writes a play named “Hamnet” in honor of his dead son.
Foreshadowing
Shakespeare’s grief foreshadows the writing of his new play.
Understatement
There is understatement when the author says that Agnes grieves a little after the death of her son.
Allusions
n/a
Imagery
The author writes, “The passage is narrow and twists back on itself. He takes each step slowly, sliding himself along the wall, his boots meeting each tread with a thud.” The opening of scene one starts by depicting the sense of sight to readers when the author describes how the boy comes down the stairs.
Paradox
The main paradox in the entire book is death. Despite Agnes being a very powerful woman, she cannot prevent the death of her loving son.
Parallelism
There is a parallelism between Shakespeare’s grief and his decision to write the play “Hamnet.”
Metonymy and Synecdoche
n/a
Personification
The house is personified when the narrator says it whistles.
