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. |
From inside the book
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Page 127
... action is not play - acting ? He must enact something real ; why feel any shame at the disparity between himself and someone merely pretending ? The reason is that he cares not just about action but about the quality of action . He ...
... action is not play - acting ? He must enact something real ; why feel any shame at the disparity between himself and someone merely pretending ? The reason is that he cares not just about action but about the quality of action . He ...
Page 147
... Action there must be , but godlike action . " 7 Godlike reason here means nothing other than applying our faculties to the how and why of meritorious action . Reason means understanding the rightness of action and the right way to ...
... Action there must be , but godlike action . " 7 Godlike reason here means nothing other than applying our faculties to the how and why of meritorious action . Reason means understanding the rightness of action and the right way to ...
Page 149
... action , and anyone who does care sees things in terms of proportion . Hamlet must apply his godlike reason to producing as remarkable a revenge action as he can , one suitable to communicate all he has inside , for these soldiers ...
... action , and anyone who does care sees things in terms of proportion . Hamlet must apply his godlike reason to producing as remarkable a revenge action as he can , one suitable to communicate all he has inside , for these soldiers ...
Contents
The Be the Eucharist and the Logic of Protestantism | 18 |
Purgatory and the Value of Time | 65 |
The Theater of Merit | 103 |
Copyright | |
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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 |
Common terms and phrases
action actually answer appears audience become believe called Calvin Calvinistic Cambridge Catholic Catholicism cause Christian Claudius comes common concept conscience contingency course dead death determinism display doctrine Drama dream Early effect effort Elizabethan England English example existence expression fact faith fall father feeling Fortune Gertrude Ghost God's Hamlet happen heaven hope Horatio human idea imagine inner John killing kind King lack Literature living logic London Mark marriage matters means merely merit mind move nature never Ophelia Oxford particular performance person play Polonius possible prayer Princeton proportion Protestant Protestantism providence Purgatory Quarterly question reason Reformation remains Renaissance revenge Richard Robert role scene seems sense Shakespeare soliloquy soul speech Studies tell theater things Thomas thoughts Tragedy true truth trying turn University Press whore York