Anne Hathaway (wife of Shakespeare) fallen into financial ruin, while Hathaway, from a family in good standing both socially and financially, would have been considered a catch. Furthermore, a "handfast" or probationary marriage and pregnancy were frequent precursors to legal marriage at the time. Examining the surviving records of Stratford-upon-Avon and nearby villages in the 1580s, Greer argues that two facts stand out quite prominently: first, that a large number of brides went to the altar already pregnant; and second, that autumn, not spring, was the most common time to get married. Shakespeare was bound to marry Hathaway, who had become pregnant by him, but
Anne Hathaway and "real." Preparing for the role, Hathaway consumed fewer than 500 calories a day to lose , researched prostitution and cut her hair. To get into the character's mental space alone during filming in London, Hathaway sent her husband back to the US; this resulted in her becoming increasingly temperamental. Christopher Orr from "The Atlantic" wrote that "Hathaway gives it everything she has, beginning in quiet sorrow before building to a woebegone climax: she gasps, she weeps, she coughs." Ann Hornaday of "the Washington Post" wrote that "the centerpiece of a movie composed entirely of centerpieces belongs to Anne Hathaway,