Shakespeare as a Christian Writer

Reformation 21 ^ | Leland Ryker

[CondoleezzaProtege]

The myth of the secular Shakespeare continues to cast a long shadow over most people's perception of Shakespeare's plays. Until I inherited the Shakespeare course in my department halfway through my career, I assumed that despite certain Christian patterns and occasional biblical allusions in the tragedies, Shakespeare's plays were broadly humanistic in their intellectual allegiance. Nothing has been a bigger surprise in my scholarly career than my gradually coming to regard Shakespeare as a Christian writer.

I make no claim to know Shakespeare's state of soul in life and death. Consequently, I need to ask my readers steadfastly to resist thinking that I am commenting on Shakespeare's personal spiritual standing vis-à-vis the Christian faith.

What Counts as Evidence?

While Shakespeare's world thus inclines us to expect certain things, what nonetheless matters is what Shakespeare actually put into his plays. If we ask what counts as evidence in weighing the Christian allegiance of the plays, the answer is that what counts as evidence of Shakespeare's intellectual and religious viewpoint is the same as with any other author. I propose that the following is a reliable grid for identifying points at which Shakespeare's plays intersect with the Christian faith: (1) explicit allusions to the Bible or Christian documents like the Book of Common Prayer or church life; (2) congruence of ideas in a play with Christian doctrines; (3) correspondence of the view of reality embodied in the plays with the biblical view of reality; (4) portrayal of Christian experiences (e.g., forgiveness, repentance, guilt pursuant to sin) in the plays; (5) the presence of Christian archetypes and symbols (such as the saint, the sinner, and the penitent).

Because the Christian references in the major tragedies leap out from the page, I have chosen the less familiar path of exploring a romantic comedy...

[CondoleezzaProtege]

The quality of mercy is not strained;
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'T is mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown:
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much
To mitigate the justice of thy plea;
Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant there.

Portia, The Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene I

[Mercat]

I recommend reading anything on Shakespeare by Joseph Pearce.

[Pontiac]

I think that the speculation that Shakespeare was a Catholic is more likely true than that he was non-religious.

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

Bookmark

[T Ruth]

Good essay. Thanks for posting.

[windcliff]

Ping

[Dr. Sivana]

I think that the speculation that Shakespeare was a Catholic is more likely true than that he was non-religious.

Yes. Good evidence was that he was a recusant, and paid penalties for not going to Anglican services.

[reasonisfaith]

Did Shakespeare confess that Jesus has come in the flesh?

(1 John 4:2)

[arthurus]

He was known in his own time to be Catholic and his plays have allusions to that.

[Albion Wilde]

bump

[POGO163]

It was the “Church of England “ in England at the time of Shakespeare . Not the Cathlics

[Cronos]

Not quite. There were quite a few “recusants” ie Catholics who refused to turn Anglican. Large swathes of rural areas were Catholic, but even a few city folk in London.

The Earls of Arundell for example are a family of nobility that has remained Catholic for centuries

[Cronos]

I would suggest reading the book “The stripping of the altars” by a noted historian.

Even though it is a book on history and very detailed and cross referenced, it is still accessible to ordinary readers

[POGO163]

I have thought for a long time that Shakespeare was one of the secret people who translated the King James Bible. Since the Pope at the time only wanted the Bible in Latin, Shakespeare would not have been Catholic.

[Pontiac]

There were a lot of closet Catholics at the time.

Papist as they were known.

[SunkenCiv]

Dame Judi Dench stuns everyone with her Shakespeare sonnet reading
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[NorthMountain]

Since the Pope at the time only wanted the Bible in Latin, he authorized the faculty of the English College at Douai to translate it into English, for some odd reason. They published their New Testament translation in 1582 and the Old Testament translation in 1609. All with the Pope's blessing.

[aspasia]

Dante or Shakespeare? Who should be your guide?

[Verginius Rufus]

I think the Old Testament was translated at the same time but they didn’t have the money to publish it until 1609. But it was available in time for the translators of the King James Bible to consult it while they were working on their revision of the Church of England’s translation of the Bible.

[Verginius Rufus]

The colony of Maryland (named after King Charles I’s wife Henrietta Maria, who was a Catholic) was started to be a refuge for English Catholics (but they were always in a minority there, and the Puritans later abolished the religious toleration they had set up). Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last survivor of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, was from one of the wealthy Catholic families in Maryland, but he could not vote until 1776 when Maryland threw off its allegiance to the British crown.