Shakespeare And Catholicism Essay -- essays research papers

By researching the life and writings of William Shakespe ar, it can be shown that many Christian values and beliefs are displayed through his literary works. In order to understand the religious inwardness in Shakespeares work it is helpful to first understand what the religious environment in Eng degrade was like around Shakespeares time. England, ever since it was ruled by the Romans, had been a Catholic nation. Before Shakespeares lifetime, a drastic change occurred that completely upended the existing universality of the English people. During King Henry VIIIs reign, the English people were, for the most part, centre with Catholicism. done a series of actu all in ally complex political maneuvers, Henry in conclusion seized power of the English church. The benefits of this control were enormous for the state. First of all, Henry obtained his split up from his first wife. Second, the state received the tithes and taxes from church property, thus making the break very profita ble for the state. Finally, with the closing of all of the monasteries, England gained large tracts of land to sell to land owners and tax heavily. The break with the Church of Rome, on the other hand, was not welcomed by the people. Through various laws and ordinances the monarchy effectively closed down the Catholic church in England, but this did not stop the people from being loyal to Catholicism in their hearts. One of the effects of the break from Rome was the welcoming of an English comment of the rule book. One of the first English translations of the Bible was written by William Tyndale. Known as Cranmers Bible or the Great Bible, this Bible along with the Geneva Bible would have been the two translations used widely during Shakespeares lifetime (Milward 85). With the invention of the printing argue before this time, the Bible was becoming a household item. Access to countersign was at it highest point in history to that time. The accessibility of the Bible greatly imp acted the work of Shakespeare because he had such a resource at his disposal. along with these two translations of Scripture already available to Shakespeare came a new translation clear by King James I. Today this translation is known as the King James Authorized Version (Milward 86). At this point in time, the climate was right for Shakespeare to learn a great deal about Christianity direct... ...gedy with a good ending, making the eventual happiness found better appreciated. In conclusion, Shakespeares plays ranged from light-hearted comedies to gut-wrenching tragedies. Characters of the highest use as well as the most immoral persons to grace the microscope stage appeared in his works. The scope of Shakespeares work seemed to cover almost all aspects of life. Through all of these tales, the theme that occurred consistently was the spiritual longing of every individual for do (Knight 69). Shakespeares plays move from a hope in political salvation to a craving for spiritual salvation, in effect(p) like the Bible does. All of his plays end with close to hope that life will go on and things will get better, just as Christianity hopes for a perfect world to come. His works emphasized the general beliefs of both sects of Christianity as well as some distinctly Catholic ones. This in no way makes Shakespeare a Christian or, more specifically, a Catholic. At its most fundamental point it does mean that Shakespeare had knowledge of the Bible and the Christian religion. The extraordinary religious circumstances of Shakespeares world played a large economic consumption in molding his works into what they became. Shakespeare And Catholicism Essay -- essays research papers 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 Shakespeares work it is helpful to first understand what the relig ious environment in England was like around Shakespeares time. England, ever since it was ruled by the Romans, had been a Catholic nation. Before Shakespeares lifetime, a drastic change occurred that completely upended the existing Catholicism of the English people. During King Henry VIIIs 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 church. The benefits of this control were enormous for the state. First of all, Henry obtained his divorce from his first wife. Second, the state received the tithes and taxes from church property, thus making the break very profitable for the state. Finally, with the closing of all of the monasteries, England gained large tracts of land to sell to land owners and tax heavily. The break with the Church of Rome, on the other hand, was not welcomed by the people. Through various laws and ordinances the monarchy effectively clo sed down the Catholic church in England, but this did not stop the people from being loyal to Catholicism in their hearts. One of the effects of the break from Rome was the welcoming of an English translation of the Bible. One of the first English translations of the Bible was written by William Tyndale. Known as Cranmers Bible or the Great Bible, this Bible along with the Geneva Bible would have been the two translations used widely during Shakespeares lifetime (Milward 85). With the invention of the printing press before this time, the Bible was becoming a household item. Access to Scripture was at it highest point in history to that time. The accessibility of the Bible greatly impacted the work of Shakespeare because he had such a resource at his disposal. Along with these two translations of Scripture already available to Shakespeare came a new translation authorized by King James I. Today this translation is known as the King James Authorized Version (Milward 86). At this point in time, the climate was right for Shakespeare to learn a great deal about Christianity direct... ...gedy with a good ending, making the eventual happiness found better appreciated. In conclusion, Shakespeares plays ranged from light-hearted comedies to gut-wrenching tragedies. Characters of the highest character as well as the most immoral persons to grace the stage appeared in his works. The scope of Shakespeares work seemed to cover almost all aspects of life. Through all of these tales, the theme that occurred consistently was the spiritual longing of every individual for love (Knight 69). Shakespeares plays move from a hope in political salvation to a desire for spiritual salvation, just like the Bible does. All of his plays end with some hope that life will go on and things will get better, just as Christianity hopes for a perfect world to come. His works emphasized the common beliefs of both sects of Christianity as well as some distinctly Catholic ones. This in no way make s Shakespeare a Christian or, more specifically, a Catholic. At its most fundamental point it does mean that Shakespeare had knowledge of the Bible and the Christian religion. The bizarre religious circumstances of Shakespeares world played a large role in molding his works into what they became.