Shakespeare's Tribe: Church, Nation, and Theater in Renaissance England
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2002. Hardcover. 8vo. Near Fine / Near Fine. Item #002729
xvi, [2], 277 p.p. Burgundy cloth boards with gilt lettering to spine. Minor bumping to spine heel, else a fine copy. Colour illustrated dust jacket has some minor scuffing and bumping to spine ends, else fine. B&W frontis. Most critics characterize Shakespeare and his tribe of fellow English playwrights and players as resolutely secular, interested in religion only as a matter of politics or as a rival source of popular entertainment. Yet as Jeffrey Knapp demonstrates, a surprising number of writers throughout the English Renaissance, including Shakespeare himself, thought of plays as supporting the cause of true religion. This book traces the remarkable affinities between ritual and drama; considers the idea of plays as enactments of communion; the uncertain relationship between Protestant and national identities; and deals squarely with vexed debates over Shakespeare's religious convictions.
Price: $40.00