Gospel according to Shakespeare The

<p>In this slim poetically powerful volume Piero Boitani develops his earlier work in <i>The Bible and Its Rewritings</i> focusing on Shakespeare's rescripturing of the Gospels. Boitani persuasively urges that Shakespeare read the New Testament with great care and an overall sense of affirmation and participation and that many of his plays constitute their own original testament insofar as they translate the good news into human terms. In <i>Hamlet</i> and <i>King Lear</i> he suggests Shakespeare's New Testament is merely hinted at and faith salvation and peace are only glimpsed from far away. But in <i>Pericles</i> <i>Cymbeline</i> <i>The Winter's Tale</i> and <i>The Tempest</i> the themes of compassion and forgiveness transcendence immanence the role of the deity resurrection and epiphany are openly if often obliquely staged. The Christian Gospels and the Christian Bible are the signposts of this itinerary.</p> <p>Originally published in 2009 Boitani's <i>Il Vangelo Secondo Shakespeare</i> was awarded the 2010 De Sanctis Prize a prestigious Italian literary award. Now available for the first time in an English translation <i>The Gospel according to Shakespeare</i> brings to a broad scholarly and nonscholarly audience Boitani's insights into the current themes dominating the study of Shakespeare's literary theology. It will be of special interest to general readers interested in Shakespeare's originality and religious perspective.</p>