The Victorian Cult of Shakespeare: Bardology in the Nineteenth Century (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781108496155)

In the Victorian era, William Shakespeare's work was often celebrated as a sacred text: a sort of secular English Bible. Even today, Shakespeare remains a uniquely important literary figure. Yet Victorian criticism took on religious dimensions that now seem outlandish in retrospect. Ministers wrote sermons based upon Shakespearean texts and delivered them from pulpits in Christian churches. Some scholars crafted devotional volumes to compare his texts directly with the Bible's. Still others created Shakespearean societies in the faith that his inspiration was not like that of other playwrights. Charles LaPorte uses such examples from the Victorian cult of Shakespeare to illustrate the complex relationship between religion, literature and secularization. His work helps to illuminate a curious but crucial chapter in the history of modern literary studies in the West, as well as its connections with Biblical scholarship and textual criticism.

Author: Charles Laporte
ISBN-10: 1108496156
ISBN-13: 9781108496155
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 11/05/2020
Pages: 260
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.06lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.56d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 12/01/2021