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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Page 116
... idea that we can stand before God and demand a response from him in recognition for our efforts to please him : " homo pro peccatis aequiualentem compensationem reddere non potest . Quis est enim qui cum Deo contendere , & cum eo in ...
... idea that we can stand before God and demand a response from him in recognition for our efforts to please him : " homo pro peccatis aequiualentem compensationem reddere non potest . Quis est enim qui cum Deo contendere , & cum eo in ...
Page 177
... idea of the power of choice to thwart Fortune , and apply this idea to himself . He tries to locate his own appreciation for Horatio's virtue as the product of his own virtuous decision - making , “ Since my dear soul was mistress of 43 ...
... idea of the power of choice to thwart Fortune , and apply this idea to himself . He tries to locate his own appreciation for Horatio's virtue as the product of his own virtuous decision - making , “ Since my dear soul was mistress of 43 ...
Page 198
... idea of no more marriage in the nunnery scene , the idea of Gertrude redeeming herself highlights the invariable facts of what cannot be helped . Similarly , the rational self - control he prescribes has already been invalidated by the ...
... idea of no more marriage in the nunnery scene , the idea of Gertrude redeeming herself highlights the invariable facts of what cannot be helped . Similarly , the rational self - control he prescribes has already been invalidated by the ...
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