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I think it was Hugh Williamson in particular who proselytised the view of Shakespeare as Catholic, and there's certainly circumstantial evidence to suggest John Shakespeare was a recusant. Elizabethan/Jacobean was a Christianised if not necessarily Christian society, but, re this thread in general, I guess it would be a mistake thereby to assume levels of inordinate piety all round. Questions and questionings of faith would have been very much about, as we can see from the outpouring of heterodoxy that came with the Civil War. I think too it has to be remembered that the Shakespearean theatre was a censored stage, some things simply were verboten. david ----- Original Message ----- From: <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2001 10:05 PM Subject: Re: Shakespeare and Christianity. > >Also maybe it would have been quite scandalous to have an actual > >Biblical person portrayed on the Globe stage. We should remember that > >by the standards of the time a theater ranked in respectability > >somewhere between a tavern and a whorehouse. > > In fact, plays (including Shakespeare's) were often presented in taverns > and whorehouses. > > I read one guy who claimed that Shakespeare was a Catholic (very > dangerous in those times) and his plays coded this religious belief. I > can't remember the details, but it suggests that Christianity is deeply > ingrained in the work. He drew his structures from both sacred and > profane sources - the Medieaval mystery plays and Seneca, in particular. > > A