Shakespeare and Religion: Global Tapestry, Dramatic Perspectives
Religion informs all the Bard's writing. In his plays, the transcendental may execute justice according to different faiths, separate dissembling from conversion, offer a pathway to salvation, diffuse the Gods between Homer, Rome, Israel, Islam, fairies, devils, Popes and Protestants: intervening and confusing characters and audiences, then and now. The spiritual inflects history, comedy, romance, and tragedy—as classical hubris or Pirandello's modern "hole torn in a paper sky." These inspiring, learned, moving essays can floodlight classrooms and stages: they contribute vividly to recent reassessments of religious foundations in literature and art.