Was Shakespeare affiliated with any particular religion? No unsubstantiated claims please, I am doing research?
Dec11
I am writing a paper on the religious beliefs of William Shakespeare. I am specifically focusing on his idea of Christianity. If you know of anything that he said or wrote that would indicate his thoughts about Christianity in general I would be greatly appreciative if you could help me locate such information. If you know of any good resources which would lend insight into this topic I would also be greatly appreciative.
Thank you.
1. A book that makes some pretty strong points AGAINST Shakspeare being any sort of true believing Christian is Walter Kaufmann’s book "From Shakespeare To Existentialism." Quite a few libraries have it. Amazon.com has it. Basically, Kaufmann says that Shakespeare subscribed more to the religious-philosophical views of the ancient Romans, and quotes form Shakespeare to show this. He especially focuses on Sonnet 94, saying that his is Shakespeare’s view of things, and this view is decidely unChristian.
2. A book that seems to show that Shakespeare was involved with the underground Catholic movement is Joseph Pearce’s "The Quest For Shakespeare." He did a show about this on EWTN, the Catholic network. The book is available on Amazon.com. It seems to be very well researched.
3. I read one book which said that because religion was such a dangerous topic in Shakespeare’s day, he made a point of never revealing, in his writings, exactly where he stood. I think Harold Bloom might have said that in one of his books, maybe in "Shakespeare, The Invention of the Human." This is the view I take. I don’t think it is possible to determine what Shakespeare’s real relgious beliefs were. He decided not to tell us, I would say. You can find evidence in his writings and in his life for all sorts of different positions.
4. Since you are writing a paper for a school, apparently, you probably need to take a position. I would go with Walter Kaufmann’s position. It is somewhat original. Most others will argue either that he was a Catholic or a Protestant. A book that might back up Walter Kaufmann’s view, in a general way, is Harold C. Goddard’s "The Meaning of Shakespeare." It is in many libraries, and is on Amazon.com (now being published in two volumes. You need to get both volumes. Each one has its own detailed index).
5. If you want to go off in a wild direction, there is Mark Booth’s "The Secret History of the World," which gives circumstantial evidence and general arguments to suggest that Shakespeare held "esoteric" ("occult") beliefs similar to today’s Freemasons and Rosicrucians. The plays "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" and "The Tempest" do provide some evidence for this view. That book is available on Amazon.com.
December 11th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
Here’s a starting point:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare's_religion
Good luck!
References :
December 11th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
1. A book that makes some pretty strong points AGAINST Shakspeare being any sort of true believing Christian is Walter Kaufmann’s book "From Shakespeare To Existentialism." Quite a few libraries have it. Amazon.com has it. Basically, Kaufmann says that Shakespeare subscribed more to the religious-philosophical views of the ancient Romans, and quotes form Shakespeare to show this. He especially focuses on Sonnet 94, saying that his is Shakespeare’s view of things, and this view is decidely unChristian.
2. A book that seems to show that Shakespeare was involved with the underground Catholic movement is Joseph Pearce’s "The Quest For Shakespeare." He did a show about this on EWTN, the Catholic network. The book is available on Amazon.com. It seems to be very well researched.
3. I read one book which said that because religion was such a dangerous topic in Shakespeare’s day, he made a point of never revealing, in his writings, exactly where he stood. I think Harold Bloom might have said that in one of his books, maybe in "Shakespeare, The Invention of the Human." This is the view I take. I don’t think it is possible to determine what Shakespeare’s real relgious beliefs were. He decided not to tell us, I would say. You can find evidence in his writings and in his life for all sorts of different positions.
4. Since you are writing a paper for a school, apparently, you probably need to take a position. I would go with Walter Kaufmann’s position. It is somewhat original. Most others will argue either that he was a Catholic or a Protestant. A book that might back up Walter Kaufmann’s view, in a general way, is Harold C. Goddard’s "The Meaning of Shakespeare." It is in many libraries, and is on Amazon.com (now being published in two volumes. You need to get both volumes. Each one has its own detailed index).
5. If you want to go off in a wild direction, there is Mark Booth’s "The Secret History of the World," which gives circumstantial evidence and general arguments to suggest that Shakespeare held "esoteric" ("occult") beliefs similar to today’s Freemasons and Rosicrucians. The plays "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" and "The Tempest" do provide some evidence for this view. That book is available on Amazon.com.
References :