Shakespeare Theology and the Unstaged God

<p>While many scholars in Shakespeare and Religious Studies assume a secularist viewpoint in their interpretation of Shakespeare’s works there are others that allow for a theologically coherent reading. Located within the turn to religion in Shakespeare studies this book goes beyond the claim that Shakespeare simply made artistic use of religious material in his drama. It argues that his plays inhabit a complex and rich theological atmosphere individually by genre and as a body of work. </p><p>The book begins by acknowledging that a plot-controlling God figure or even a consistent theological dogma is largely absent in the plays of Shakespeare. However it argues that this absence is not necessarily a sign of secularization but functions in a theologically generative manner. It goes on to suggest that the plays reveal a consistent if variant attention to the theological possibility of a divine presence mediated through human wit both in gracious and malicious forms. Without any prejudice for divine intervention the plots actually gesture on many turns toward a hidden supernatural actor or God. </p><p>Making bold claims about the artistic and theological of Shakespeare’s work this book will be of interest to scholars of Theology and the Arts Shakespeare and Literature more generally. </p>