Shakespeare's tribe
Book Description
In this groundbreaking exploration, Jeffrey Knapp reveals a hidden dimension of Renaissance theater that challenges everything we thought we knew about Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Far from being purely secular entertainers, many English playwrights and actors of the era saw themselves as spiritual ministers, using the stage as a unique platform for religious transformation.
While Renaissance plays appeared to focus on worldly concerns like passion, violence, and moral corruption, Knapp uncovers a deeper purpose behind these seemingly godless productions. Theater practitioners deliberately embraced their reputation for vice, arguing that this very quality allowed them to reach souls that traditional religious institutions could not touch. They envisioned the playhouse as an inclusive sanctuary where wayward individuals might encounter divine truth through dramatic experience.
Through careful analysis of both famous and forgotten plays, alongside other Renaissance documents, Knapp examines how theater artists believed their craft could serve a sacred mission. He explores the connections between religious ritual and dramatic performance, investigates how plays functioned as spiritual communion, and addresses the complex relationship between Protestant faith and English national identity.
This scholarly yet accessible work offers fresh insights into the religious convictions that may have shaped Shakespeare's own writing. For readers interested in the intersection of spirituality and art, Knapp demonstrates how creative expression has long served as a pathway to transcendence and social healing.
Who Is This For?
📖 Reading Level: Medium (200-400 pages) (~8 hours)
📄 Length: 277 pages
What You'll Discover
- ✓ Explore History and criticism
- ✓ Explore Religion in literature
- ✓ Explore Church and state, great britain
- ✓ Explore History
- ✓ Explore Nationalism in literature
- ✓ Explore Church and state
- ✓ Explore English drama, history and criticism, early modern and elizabethan, 1500-1600
- ✓ Explore Religious aspects of Theater
