In Act 1 scene 11, Nat suffers violence in Elizabethan England when he is bullied by Roper; they are at the point of exchanging blows when Condell and Will appear to Roper’s chagrin.

In Chapter Eight, Roper provokes Nat by teasing him about leaving the bear pit. Nat becomes angry and is about to hit Roper, when Shakespeare and another actor step in to stop the altercation. Shakespeare orders everyone to leave the stage except Nat, with whom he intends to privately rehearse a scene for A Midsummer Night's Dream. During this time, Shakespeare assures Nat that, despite Roper's displeasure for him, the Chamberlain's Men is a tight-knit family by resting his arm on Nat's shoulder, Nat starts to cry. Shakespeare patiently lets Nat cry into his shoulder until he is able to compose himself again. Nat tells Shakespeare that his mother died of cancer and his father killed himself shortly after.

It is Shakespeare's fatherly presence that allows Nat to break down. He happily listens to Nat's problem, and Nat feels better having a father figure to rely on. When Nat moves in with Shakespeare, Nat is set on a track that will eventually lead him to properly grieve his parents, though he does not know it.