Religious, sociological and anthropological approaches

Abstract

In Shakespeare’s plays there is usually some religious allegory or some Christian dimension which is applied if only intermittently to the narrative, usually towards the conclusion. The usurpation of Richard II, God’s representative on earth, unleashes a long period of political instability and civil war, a national curse. Shakespeare may or may not have believed this explained the wars between the houses of York and Lancaster as secular explanations are given as well; but the religious vision is there as a perspective which allows the plays to be read as a homily on the need to obey divinely approved monarchy. Hamlet faces a conflict between the secular and the religious, and learns to resign himself to divine providence. Some of Shakespeare’s characters’ suffering and sacrifice may recall Christ’s passion and death. Some plays, such as Measure for Measure, are capable of being fully allegorised as we become aware of biblical echoes, allusions, parallels and symbols.