RELIGIOUS RIFTS IN SHAKESPEARE’S ENGLAND
RELIGIOUS RIFTS IN SHAKESPEARE’S ENGLAND:
ALL SHAKESPEARE’S LIFE THERE WAS A RIFT between the English Church and secret or recusant Catholics still adjusting to Henry VIII’s break from Rome and the reign of Catholic Mary I. Suspected Catholics were spied on, arrested, tortured, accused of treason, executed. There were other rifts as well between English Church Protestants and Puritans, as well as other factions. Catholics were divided, with many favoring outward conformity and obedience to the crown, but others supporting Jesuit missionaries and opposing Elizabeth's reign.
In 1589, James VI of Scotland (Protestant son of Catholic Mary Queen of Scots, and later James I of England) married Anne of Denmark, who may have been secretly Catholic.
From about 1591-1593, Shakespeare wrote his Henry VI and Richard III plays, about a rift between the houses of Lancaster and York, analogous to the Catholic-Protestant religious rift. The rift is finally healed by the marriage of Lancastrian Henry VII to Elizabeth of York.
In about 1595, Shakespeare wrote Romeo & Juliet, involving a feud between the Montague and Capulet families (“Two households both alike in dignity”), also analogous to the Protestant-Catholic rift. Revenge, secrecy and scheming destroy the hope for the rift to be healed in two lovers. [There were other religious rifts as well....]
Shakespeare was a writer of his time, addressing concerns of his time. Too many mistake him as a writer who avoided topical concerns of his age in favor of universal truths, when in fact censorship prevented him from writing too openly of certain issues.
#Reformation #Catholic #England #HenryVIII #Shakespeare #Hamlet #Literature #Renaissance #EarlyModern #theatre #Drama #literarycriticism
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Links to a description of my book project:
On LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/eJGBtqV
On this blog: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2017/05/hamlets-bible-my-book-project-im.html
[Originally posted around the week of 3/12/18
on LinkedIn]
ALL SHAKESPEARE’S LIFE THERE WAS A RIFT between the English Church and secret or recusant Catholics still adjusting to Henry VIII’s break from Rome and the reign of Catholic Mary I. Suspected Catholics were spied on, arrested, tortured, accused of treason, executed. There were other rifts as well between English Church Protestants and Puritans, as well as other factions. Catholics were divided, with many favoring outward conformity and obedience to the crown, but others supporting Jesuit missionaries and opposing Elizabeth's reign.
In 1589, James VI of Scotland (Protestant son of Catholic Mary Queen of Scots, and later James I of England) married Anne of Denmark, who may have been secretly Catholic.
From about 1591-1593, Shakespeare wrote his Henry VI and Richard III plays, about a rift between the houses of Lancaster and York, analogous to the Catholic-Protestant religious rift. The rift is finally healed by the marriage of Lancastrian Henry VII to Elizabeth of York.
In about 1595, Shakespeare wrote Romeo & Juliet, involving a feud between the Montague and Capulet families (“Two households both alike in dignity”), also analogous to the Protestant-Catholic rift. Revenge, secrecy and scheming destroy the hope for the rift to be healed in two lovers. [There were other religious rifts as well....]
Shakespeare was a writer of his time, addressing concerns of his time. Too many mistake him as a writer who avoided topical concerns of his age in favor of universal truths, when in fact censorship prevented him from writing too openly of certain issues.
#Reformation #Catholic #England #HenryVIII #Shakespeare #Hamlet #Literature #Renaissance #EarlyModern #theatre #Drama #literarycriticism
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Links to a description of my book project:
On LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/eJGBtqV
On this blog: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2017/05/hamlets-bible-my-book-project-im.html
[Originally posted around the week of 3/12/18
on LinkedIn]
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