Anne Hathaway (wife of Shakespeare) the bed he bequeaths her as "the second best" to remind her of the best bed of their memories. The novel was dramatised for BBC radio in 1998 with Maggie Steed playing Hathaway. The Connie Willis short story "Winter's Tale," which combines factual information about Anne Hathaway with a fictitious Shakespeare identity theory, also characterises the nature of the relationship as loving and the bequeath of the second-best bed as romantically significant. Anne Hathaway appears in Neil Gaiman's comic book section , part of "The Sandman" series. She and Shakespeare share a tumultuous, yet affectionate, relationship. Gaiman's interpretation suggests that
Anne Hathaway industry, Hathaway has advocated for greater professional opportunities for women and criticized Hollywood as not being a place for equality. In 2018, she collaborated with 300 women in Hollywood to set up the Time's Up initiative to protect women from harassment and discrimination. Hathaway has also spoken out against the issues of bullying of gay students, discrimination toward transgender children and white supremacy. John Hiscock of "The Daily Telegraph" finds Hathaway a "well-grounded, friendly young woman with a good sense of humour, a wide smile and an easy-going attitude". He says that despite considerable success Hathaway has never "gone Hollywood",