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
Results 1-3 of 36
Page 12
... appear glorious to the onlooker , appears " nothing to me but a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours " ( II.ii.300–303 ) . Interesting here is not merely that he sees foulness , but also that he sees nothing but foulness ...
... appear glorious to the onlooker , appears " nothing to me but a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours " ( II.ii.300–303 ) . Interesting here is not merely that he sees foulness , but also that he sees nothing but foulness ...
Page 65
... appears to Hamlet reflects what Hamlet wants to believe about the world and about his lot in it . It appears to Hamlet almost exactly as he would want it to in order that he may respond in accordance with his Catholic conceptions . It ...
... appears to Hamlet reflects what Hamlet wants to believe about the world and about his lot in it . It appears to Hamlet almost exactly as he would want it to in order that he may respond in accordance with his Catholic conceptions . It ...
Page 66
... appears to him as , and he tries his best to receive it as , an emissary of the ever - hoped - for Not to be the idea that his action in the play is neither obsolete nor necessarily the only one possible . The Ghost's first appearance ...
... appears to him as , and he tries his best to receive it as , an emissary of the ever - hoped - for Not to be the idea that his action in the play is neither obsolete nor necessarily the only one possible . The Ghost's first appearance ...
Contents
The Be the Eucharist and the Logic of Protestantism | 18 |
Purgatory and the Value of Time | 65 |
The Theater of Merit | 103 |
Copyright | |
4 other sections not shown
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 |
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