Description
Book SynopsisThis volume explores the influences of Catholicism and Protestantism in a trio of Shakespeare's tragedies: Julius Caesar , Macbeth , and Hamlet . Bypassing the discussion of Shakespeare's personal religious beliefs, Batson instead focuses on distinct footprints left by Catholic and Protestant traditions that underlie and inform Shakespeare's artistic genius.
Trade Review"These essays, which seek to demonstrate how powerfully Shakespeare's artistry is informed by Christian tradition and culture, are admirably free of narrow doctrinal or exegetical restriction. As we make our way through these essays, here observing Shakespeare's Catholic sensibility and there his Protestant one, we see the playwright's infinite variety in a light both familiar and critically new. - JOSEPH CANDIDO, University of Arkansas This stimulating collection of smart essays demonstrates not only that Shakespeare was theologically informed but also that Christian language and concepts were integral to the design of his major tragedies. The formidable contributors enable us to hear lost echoes of Scripture and sermon, polemic and Prayer Book that reverberate in nearly every scene. - PETER LEITHART, New St. Andrews College"
Table of ContentsPreface -- Beatrice Batson 1. Meta-drama in Hamlet and Macbeth -- Peter Milward, SJ 2. Explorers of the Revelation: Spenser and Shakespeare -- David Daniell 3. The Problem of Self-Love in Shakespeare's Tragedies and in Renaissance and Reformation Theology -- Robert Lanier Reid 4. "I Could Not Say âAmen'": Prayer and Providence in Macbeth -- Robert S. Miola 5. Hamlet and Protestant Aural Theater -- Grace Tiffany 6. Providence in Julius Caesar -- John W. Mahon 7. Cobbling Souls in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar -- Maurice Hunt Contributors
