Anne Hathaway (wife of Shakespeare) leave Stratford and pursue a career in the theatre. However, according to Stanley Wells, writing in the "Oxford Companion to Shakespeare", most modern scholars take the view that the name Whateley was "almost certainly the result of clerical error". Germaine Greer argues that the age difference between Shakespeare and Hathaway is not evidence that he was forced to marry her, but that he was the one who pursued her. Women such as the orphaned Hathaway often stayed at home to care for younger siblings and married in their late twenties. As a husband Shakespeare offered few prospects; his family had
Anne Hathaway premiered at the 2008 Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals and Hathaway garnered widespread acclaim for her performance. Peter Travers called Hathaway "raw and riveting as Kym" and added that she "acts the hell out of it, achieving a state of sorrowful grace." Hathaway's performance garnered nominations for an Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Drama. Hathaway starred in "Bride Wars" (2009), which she described as "hideously commercial – gloriously so". The romantic comedy, in which she and Kate Hudson played two best friends who become rivals after their weddings are scheduled