The Faith of William Shakespeare

I tried and tried and tried to finish this book. I've had it for a looooong time. I think I thought this was a fictional story when I first requested it. I made it about 25% through before I couldn't read anymore. This book is not in my wheelhouse so I wouldn't count this as a negative review. I don't generally read non-fiction and was trying to challenge myself to broaden my horizons. This one just didn't do it for me.

The Faith of William Shakespeare sets out to prove that William Shakespeare, far from the Catholic or atheist current criticism would have him be, lived his life as a Protestant. Holderness acknowledges that the plays are a poor route to knowledge of Shakespeare’s life, but they are also the only evidence really available. He combines his understanding of the plays with extensive knowledge of historical context in an attempt to illuminate Shakespeare’s personal faith.
While The Faith of William Shakespeare deals with complex ideas, it is very accessible. The book assumes the reader does not have an in depth knowledge of either the religious context or the plays themselves. The introductory chapter on the English Reformation is particularly good, and I enjoyed his analysis of King Lear and genre. Holderness’s analysis looks at each play as a whole, and focuses on philosophical and linguistic echoes in scripture.
Often his readings are broadly “Christian” rather than specifically Protestant (or Anglican, or Calvinist), which sadly works against his “Shakespeare is a Protestant” argument. However, just because I did not end the book convinced that Shakespeare or his plays were Protestant, does not mean this was not an enlightening and interesting exploration of one of the key issues in Shakespeare criticism.