Confused Congregation By William Shakespeare

In this essay, I will take a gander at the play of Romeo and Juliet. I will examine how Shakespeare has utilized dialect in the play for symbolic impact. I will also see how Shakespeare has displayed love and the path in which Romeo and Juliet converse with each other, I might choose whether their affection was genuine and discuss their parents differentiating perspectives and conclusions. I will likewise remark on the play's pertinence today and perceive how Shakespeare has utilized dramatic devices and structures to improve the discussion between the youthful lovers. All throughout the play, there is a consistent theme of love and destiny, I will be dissecting this subject and show how it influences Romeo and Juliet.

In William Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar, two interesting forces, fate and free will, are shown competing for prominence over the other. Fate was exemplified in the many prophecies and omens the characters viewed throughout the play. Free will was the characters abilities to overcome and defeat their fate. Many characters have struggles with the power of their free will overcoming their fate, namely Caesar, Cassius, and Brutus. Although in the end all three of those characters succumb to their fate, Shakespeare shows that there is a delicate equilibrium between the two forces.

In any case, because the values and beliefs of the Protestant and Catholic religions were not extremely different, it would have been easy for Shakespeare to cater to both without showing any specific preference towards one or the other. Theologically speaking, they do have different doctrines and leaders, but in the context of Shakespeare's plays, both religions have a God, Bible, and other foundational values. His play, Measure for Measure, is based on the themes of morals and justice. He sets his characters into contemplating some tough ethical issues, which could be applied to both Protestantism and Catholicism.

When he became King he ordered its immediate printing. England was a Christian country. Although deep divisions existed between Protestants and Catholics, nearly everyone believed in heaven and hell, and lived in fear of eternal damnation, a consequence of witchcraft. People who watched Macbeth saw in it the signs of a man and woman seized by demonic possession.

During his lifetime and even now, Shakespeare’s personal life has been shrouded in mystery. While his religious affiliation and beliefs are not fully known, it is clearly evident through his work that he knew a great deal about religion. Macbeth is a great example of Shakespeare’s knowledge of religious themes. At first glance, one may find the theme of Macbeth to be crime. Digging deeper reveals the true theme to be sin (christianshakespeare). Crime is simply the breaking of human law. Sin is the breaking of God’s law. The ambition that fuels Macbeth in his quest to become king results in murder. Macbeth becomes haunted over the sins that he has committed in his journey to rule. It doesn’t really matter whether Macbeth is catholic or protestant. His guilt remains the same (elizabethanera).

With England torn apart by religious unrest brought about by Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Mary I, Elizabeth I employed a pragmatic plan during the 1500s in order to bring about peace. In introducing a religious policy, she devised a compromise between the theological beliefs of Protestantism and Catholicism. Firstly, she adjusted her predecessors’ title of “ ‘the only supreme head of the church’ ” to “ ‘only supreme governor of this realm’ ” (Spielvogel 407). Though the alteration did

Queen Elizabeth had to be harsh and strict with Catholics, more than she would have preferred in order to maintain peace in England (Elizabeth R). Although Queen Elizabeth was nice, she could also be very strict. When Catholics rebelled she reacted quickly, she had them killed, took away their properties, or imprisoned them. After years of rebellion and fighting, England became a Protestant Country in the early 1600’s (Pitchard 103). “The significance of the Elizabethan religious settlement is that it was able to hold the vast majority of the people together, despite being a compromise few would have chosen” (Elizabeth I).

In 1600 Europe had abandoned the ideas and teachings of Catholic Christianity and began having a Protestant view on the world. When Protestants changed their worldview they rejected the idea of purgatory, causing a key foundation of their new religion. The Protestant Worldview and reaction of it can be reflected in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In this time of religious and spiritual changes many people are very confused which can be closely related to Prince Hamlet’s immense amount of anxiety and “madness” that causes tension, due to the lack of knowledge and the ghost of his father.

The Elizabethan drama was almost wholly secular; and while Shakespeare was writing he practically confined his view to the world of non-theological observation and thought, so that he represents it substantially in one and the same way whether the period of the story is pre-Christian or Christian (40).

   Respect for religion and government is an important part of any country, but what happens to a country when these values begin to change?  England was beginning to go through this change in 1603 when Othello was written by William Shakespeare.  Comparing the religious themes and heroes of Othello to the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight which was written during the Middle English era, will demonstrate just how far England had come.  Both heroes are clearly religious, but Gawain maintains his faith until the end, while Othello falls into the snare of temptation.  The spiritual hero of Middle English is quite different from the tragic hero of the Machiavellian era.

In 1559 Elizabeth I (1533-1603) was crowned Queen. Elizabeth sought to find a middle ground during her rein (1558-1603) in England, by allowing both Catholics and Protestants to worship without fear of any repercussions. However, Gilbert (1976) that ‘Elizabeth I and her successors had legislated to make Anglican worship compulsory’ (p. 4). By introducing the Act of Uniformity of 1559 it laid out the rules of worship that both religions were to follow and reissued the Book of Common Prayer for use in worship. The Thirty-Nine Articles of 1563 also set to define the doctrine of the Church of England which set out a middle path between the beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church and the Protestants (Wolffe, 2008). By the end of Elizabeth’s I forty five year reign, the majority of people in English society were Protestant. As the older, mainly Catholic members of society had died through old age (Christianity in Britain, 2011). Knight and Mason (2006) describe a dissenter during

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is one of the most famous tragedies William Shakespeare has ever written. Found throughout Shakespeare’s tragedy are many religious references. According to Peter Milward, the author of Shakespeare's Christianity: The Protestant and Catholic Poetics of Julius Caesar, Macbeth, and Hamlet, “From a purely religious point of view, which is more than just biblical, Hamlet is rich in homiletic material of all kinds, reflecting almost every aspect of the religious situation in a deeply religious age” (Milward 9). These pieces of religious literature are crucial to the plot of Hamlet. The religious elements found in this tragedy provide the plot, allusions, and foreshadowing.

If one is religious they will try and act to live up to the faith. The interpretation or extent of being religious can be different within many charters. Throughout the play, many characters are shown to be very religious within the Christian faith. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the role of Christianity is inconsistent. Shakespeare conveys the inconsistency of Christianity for the reader to get the effect of hypocrisy.

By researching the life and writings of William Shakespeare, it can be shown that many Christian values and beliefs are displayed through his literary works. In order to understand the religious content in Shakespeare's work it is helpful to first understand what the religious environment in England was like around Shakespeare's time. England, ever since it was ruled by the Romans, had been a Catholic nation. Before Shakespeare's lifetime, a drastic change occurred that completely upended the existing Catholicism of the English people. During King Henry VIII's reign, the English people were, for the most part, content with Catholicism. Through a series of very complex political maneuvers, Henry eventually seized power of the English

One of the major concerns presented by Shakespeare in Julius Caesar is the struggle between fate and free will. This struggle is evident throughout the play through Shakespeares continual presentation of the supernatural. The supernatural is present in many different forms in the text, for example through omens, nightmares and sacrifices. Shakespeare believed that life was a combination of fate and freewill, he presents this idea to the audience through different events that occur throughout the play, events such as the Feast at the Lupercal, the Soothsayers prophecy, the animal sacrifice, Calpurnias dream and the presence of animals and Caesars ghost. These events build dramatic tension throughout the play, illustrating the struggle of