Hamlet, Protestantism, and the Mourning of Contingency: Not to BeBuilding on current scholarly interest in the religious dimensions of the play, this study shows how Shakespeare uses Hamlet to comment on the Calvinistic Protestantism predominant around 1600. By considering the play's inner workings against the religious ideas of its time, John Curran explores how Shakespeare portrays in this work a completely deterministic universe in the Calvinist mode, and, Curran argues, exposes the disturbing aspects of Calvinism. By rendering a Catholic Prince Hamlet caught in a Protestant world which consistently denies him his aspirations for a noble life, Shakespeare is able in this play, his most theologically engaged, to delineate the differences between the two belief systems, but also to demonstrate the consequences of replacing the old religion so completely with the new. |
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... Catholics for denying sinners any chance of reformation. Damnedif you trust salvation by works and the sacramental order, damnedif you don'ttrust God's providence. Damnedifyou insist you're saved, damned ifyou can'tfindin yourself ...
... Catholicism and Protestantism. It hardly matters which resembles which,ifason of theChurchis analogously conjured byboth her patrons: to polish off onein the other'sbehalf, ordieunto theother while discharging an obligation towards each ...
... Catholics in England, VIII.7). Compare Rosencrantz: “You do surely bar the door on yourown liberty, ifyou dodeny yourgriefs to yourfriend.” “The Churchshut uphell by means ofthe Sacrament of Penance. But at some periodin the futureit ...
... Catholicism itself,and it is a position towhich Hamlet is deeply committed and triesto adhere throughout the play's first four Acts. Since itis a position outlawed by thepowers that be in the playwright's own time, however,it is ...
... Catholicism to Protestantism has beenwell observed. Butsuch readingstend either toemphasize how the play's theological indecisiveness correspondstothe confusions ofthe era'sreligious upheaval4or toarguethe play's endorsement of one ...
Contents
TheLoss of Contingency 2TheBe the Eucharist and the Logic of Protestantism | |
4The Theater of Merit 5 Chastity andthe Strumpet Fortune 6 The BeProtestantism and Silence | |
Index | |
Other editions - View all
Hamlet, Protestantism, and the Mourning of Contingency: Not to Be John E. Curran Jr Limited preview - 2016 |
Hamlet, Protestantism, and the Mourning of Contingency: Not to Be John E. Curran Jr Limited preview - 2016 |
Hamlet, Protestantism, and the Mourning of Contingency: Not to be John E. Curran Limited preview - 2007 |