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The role of prayer in Shakespeare's plays
There has been a turn to religion in Shakespeare Studies by scholars like Kastan, Swift and Shugar in recent years, and this turn has uncovered a wealth of insight that had previously been obscured. I contribute to this recovery of the spiritual dimension of Shakespeare's work by tackling the questi...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Religious Studies
2017
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| _version_ | 1867613163742035968 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Bates, Lauren Catherine |
| author2 | Higginbotham, Derrick |
| author_browse | Bates, Lauren Catherine Higginbotham, Derrick |
| author_facet | Higginbotham, Derrick Bates, Lauren Catherine |
| author_sort | Bates, Lauren Catherine |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | There has been a turn to religion in Shakespeare Studies by scholars like Kastan, Swift and Shugar in recent years, and this turn has uncovered a wealth of insight that had previously been obscured. I contribute to this recovery of the spiritual dimension of Shakespeare's work by tackling the question of what prayer does in his plays. I place these performed prayers in their historical and theological contexts, as well as analyse their roles dramatically and thematically within the plays. Prayer as a dramatic form is unique in that it falls between a dialogue and a monologue, pointing to something different in terms of rhetoric and content. Characters evoke an invisible being to whom they bare their souls, and the audience is privy to this conversation but not addressed by it. Awareness is created of something other, something beyond, filling the space of the stage with the suggestion of an alternate reality, another terrain beyond the earthly realm. Prayer is a conduit between characters and this alternate reality, a conduit through which multiple human impulses are conducted. I focus specifically on how filial attachment, erotic desire, violence, and visions of citizenship are conducted via prayer, and what happens when any of these impulses and visions is misdirected. Through the ability of prayer to conduct this array of human impulses, I demonstrate Shakespeare's complex engagement with the metaphysical realm, especially as his plays dramatize characters' move to embrace the divine. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/25019 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:31:47.142Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publishDateRange | 2017 |
| publishDateSort | 2017 |
| publisher | Department of Religious Studies |
| publisherStr | Department of Religious Studies |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/25019 The role of prayer in Shakespeare's plays Bates, Lauren Catherine Higginbotham, Derrick Chidester, David Language and Literature There has been a turn to religion in Shakespeare Studies by scholars like Kastan, Swift and Shugar in recent years, and this turn has uncovered a wealth of insight that had previously been obscured. I contribute to this recovery of the spiritual dimension of Shakespeare's work by tackling the question of what prayer does in his plays. I place these performed prayers in their historical and theological contexts, as well as analyse their roles dramatically and thematically within the plays. Prayer as a dramatic form is unique in that it falls between a dialogue and a monologue, pointing to something different in terms of rhetoric and content. Characters evoke an invisible being to whom they bare their souls, and the audience is privy to this conversation but not addressed by it. Awareness is created of something other, something beyond, filling the space of the stage with the suggestion of an alternate reality, another terrain beyond the earthly realm. Prayer is a conduit between characters and this alternate reality, a conduit through which multiple human impulses are conducted. I focus specifically on how filial attachment, erotic desire, violence, and visions of citizenship are conducted via prayer, and what happens when any of these impulses and visions is misdirected. Through the ability of prayer to conduct this array of human impulses, I demonstrate Shakespeare's complex engagement with the metaphysical realm, especially as his plays dramatize characters' move to embrace the divine. 2017-09-01T14:19:54Z 2017-09-01T14:19:54Z 2017 Master Thesis Masters MA http://hdl.handle.net/11427/25019 eng application/pdf Department of Religious Studies Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Language and Literature Bates, Lauren Catherine The role of prayer in Shakespeare's plays |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | The role of prayer in Shakespeare's plays |
| title_full | The role of prayer in Shakespeare's plays |
| title_fullStr | The role of prayer in Shakespeare's plays |
| title_full_unstemmed | The role of prayer in Shakespeare's plays |
| title_short | The role of prayer in Shakespeare's plays |
| title_sort | role of prayer in shakespeare s plays |
| topic | Language and Literature |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/25019 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bateslaurencatherine theroleofprayerinshakespearesplays AT bateslaurencatherine roleofprayerinshakespearesplays |