Anne Whateley of her, but cannot resist his sexual urges, getting Hathaway pregnant. In Karen Harper's novel "Mistress Shakespeare" (2008) Anne Whateley is the central character. She is once more portrayed as Shakespeare's true love. She narrates the story of her life as the dusky-skinned daughter of a Stratford businessman and an Italian acrobat. She and Shakespeare are married in a "handfast" ceremony which is known only to them. In London she carries on a secret parallel marriage with him while Hathaway and her children stay in Stratford. She inspires many of his works and shares his feelings, triumphs and fears. Anne
Anne Hathaway stated that her religious beliefs are "a work in progress". Hathaway attended Brooklyn Heights Montessori School and Wyoming Elementary School in Millburn. She graduated from Millburn High School, where she played soccer and participated in many plays, including "Once Upon a Mattress", in which she portrayed Winnifred. Later, she appeared in other plays like "Jane Eyre" and "Gigi", at New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse. She studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1993 and became the first teenager admitted into the Barrow Group Theater Company's acting program. She spent several semesters studying as an English major and political