Essay on Religion in the Works of William Shakespeare

An English student from Calvin College writes that, "Several themes that are only Catholic also can be incurred throughout his works. For example, Shakespeare, at times, used the word holy in the sacramental sense that Catholics used it. Characters in his plays showed devotion to various saints. They also blessed themselves with the sign of the cross. Shakespeare incorporated references to Purgatory into some of his plots… [His] upbringing certainly came into play in his familiarity of these subject." (Brydon). It is true that Shakespeare did have all of those references and signs of Catholicism in his plays, it should also be remembered that what a playwright instills in his characters does not necessarily reflect what he himself believes.

Much of the text is dated or archaic and is initially unknown to the typical student. Yet upon thorough study, the student will gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of Shakespeare's words and the English language.Despite the difficulty that dated text presents, the passions and emotions described by Shakespeare touch the hearts of his readers and audience, students included. Vivid imagery and poetic descriptions are presented effectively and have a great impact on the audience. Readers are provided with the opportunity to step into the lives of his characters; to feel their emotions and understand their motivations, a rewarding experience for the student.Although Shakespeare's wrote his plays more than 350 years ago, the relevance of their themes and subjects still exists.

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).

Since before I can remember, I have always loved books. Over the years, I have read a plethora of books. Those books have varied from tales of knights, princesses, and castles to books about real world situations. Although I have read so many books of so many genres, very few of them have consisted of Shakespeare.

William Shakespeare, a glove-maker’s son, was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire on April 23rd, 1564. Despite the criminality placed on Catholicism in the 16th and 17th centuries in England, Warwickshire “remained defiantly Catholic until the [mid-1600s]”; growing up, Shakespeare would have had Catholics on both sides of his family, if he was not discreetly a Catholic

William Shakespeare has immortalized himself through the timeless themes found in his works. This fame has encouraged the continuous and customary study of Shakespearean literature, often over that of his contemporaries. In an effort to analyze Shakespeare's works, scholars have tried to connect his personal life with the stories and characters he created. However, there is hardly any information to base this analysis on. With much ambiguity surrounding Shakespeare's educational and personal background, many scholars have been persuaded to ask the question: who wrote Shakespeare? The Shakespearean Authorship debate has long been studied by experts, and both the Stratfordian and Anti-Stratfordian positions have been taken; however, only the Stratfordian stance can provide sufficient literary and historical evidence.

As stated in source 2” the great thing about Shakespeare is that he speaks to everyone”. Now as worthy of an argument that may seem, Shakespeare does not speak to everyone because of his choosing of words and phrasing in his plays as a result student are going to take way longer to learn ‘old English” before reading any of Shakespeare plays, student are better off reading a book made in the 21 century for the 9th grade

Shakespeare was born in 1564 in Stratford. Stratford was a place that matched well pretty much any fifteen hundreds town you could imagine,

Religion was a major factor in a number of Shakespeare’s plays. Religion motivated action and reasoning. In Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice,” religion was more than a belief in a higher being; it reflected moral standards and ways of living. In the “Merchant of Venice,” “a Christian ethic of generosity, love, and risk-taking friendship is set in pointed contrast with a non-Christian ethic that is seen, from a Christian point of view, as grudging, resentful, and self-calculating.” (Bevington, pg. 74) Although Shakespeare writes this drama from a Christian point of view he illustrates religion by conflicts of the Old Testament and the New Testament in Venetian society and its court of law. These Testaments are tested through the

Along with being translated into every language, Shakespeare’s words reach and are accepted by multiple races and cultures (McMillan). A reason William Shakespeare is accepted by multiple races could be the fact that he does not ignore the issues and “tensions” between them and instead makes light of them by including them in his plays such as Othello and The Merchant of Venice. He addresses the struggles between different colors and religions. He never takes a designated side; he simply tells a story which is what has helped him be so well accepted (“Race – Introduction”).

Shakespeare's mother, Mary, came from a devout Catholic family that held positions throughout the Catholic church before its demise in England (Milward 21). Shakespeare's family appears, at most, nominally Protestant, merely for the purpose of remaining a functioning part of Stratford (Milward 22). Once John's

1. Shakespeare focused into the way he had wrote in order for the plays to have a good understanding which had influenced the culture through it.

thinking. “What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason, how infinite in

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the Danish prince sets out to avenge his father’s assassination at the hands of his uncle Claudius, the new king. At first, Hamlet is fragile because of his father’s sudden death and the following marriage of his mother Gertrude and uncle Claudius. Originally contemplating suicide, Hamlet dissuades himself from doing so on the grounds of it being a sin. Shifting from an internal struggle to an external one after he meets his father’s spirit, he seeks to kill Claudius but cannot due to his religion again. Finally Hamlet thwarts Claudius’ plans to be assassinated in England and returns to Denmark. He finds peace in his Christian faith before dying in