Abstract
The focus of this article is the portrayal of William Shakespeare in Maggie O’Farrell’s novel Hamnet. The novel presents the Bard as a husband and father, and it is the latter role that this article discusses. The key argument here is that although O’Farrell strives to depict Shakespeare as an affectionate, caring father having a deep and loving relationship with his children, her portrayal of the playwright creates, in fact, the image of a self-centered, egoistic man, unable to take responsibility for his family. My claim is that this inconsistency reflects similar contradictions in the image of contemporary men of the “masculinity crisis era” – slowly adjusting to new expectations, but anxious about their disappearing sense of autonomy.
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