The Quest for Shakespeare: The Bard of Avon and the Church of RomeHighly regarded and best-selling literary writer and teacher, Joseph Pearce presents a stimulating and vivid biography of the world's most revered writer that is sure to be controversial. Unabashedly provocative, with scholarship, insight and keen observation, Pearce strives to separate historical fact from fiction about the beloved Bard. Shakespeare is not only one of the greatest figures in human history, he is also one of the most controversial and one of the most elusive. He is famous and yet almost unknown. Who was he? What were his beliefs? Can we really understand his plays and his poetry if we don't know the man who wrote them? These are some of the questions that are asked and answered in this gripping and engaging study of the world's greatest ever poet. The Quest for Shakespeare claims that books about the Bard have got him totally wrong. They misread the man and misread the work. The true Shakespeare has eluded the grasp of the critics. Dealing with the facts of Shakespeare's life and times, Pearce's quest leads to the inescapable conclusion that Shakespeare was a believing Catholic living in very anti-Catholic times. Many of his friends and family were persecuted, and even executed, for their Catholic faith. And yet he seems to have avoided any notable persecution himself. How did he do this? How did he respond to the persecution of his friends and family? What did he say about the dreadful and intolerant times in which he found himself? The Quest for Shakespeare answers these questions in ways that will enlighten and astonish those who love Shakespeare's work, and that will shock and outrage many of his critics. This book is full of surprises for beginner and expert alike. |
From inside the book
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... persecution , and that this fact has radical consequences with regard to the study of his works . In chapter 1 , and in greater depth in appendix A , I have alluded to , or sketched , what might be termed a philosophy of the creative ...
... persecution in which John Shakespeare was living it was a crime , punishable by death , to harbor a priest in one's home . It was , therefore , very possible that no priest would be available for the Catholic in extremis . It is in the ...
... persecution still rages with the same fury , the Catholics being haled away to prison and otherwise vexed , and the Fathers of the Society being most diligently looked for ” . Is it likely that fugitive priests , traveling incognito ...
... persecution by the Elizabethan state , has forced most modern scholars to accept that William Shakespeare was brought up as a believing Catholic . Such evidence is strengthened , as we shall see , by the fact that John Shakespeare would ...
... persecution . " . The life and times of England's greatest poet and playwright were charged with such danger , contributing no doubt to what Chesterton referred to as Shakespeare's “ delirium ” , and contributing also no doubt to the ...
Contents
9 | |
11 | |
13 | |
15 | |
30 | |
39 | |
55 | |
A Rose by Any Other Name | 64 |
Playing Safe with the Queen | 118 |
Red Herrings and Codpieces | 129 |
Friends and Family | 135 |
The Kings Good Servant | 141 |
Last Years | 151 |
He Died a Papist | 164 |
Prefatory Note to the Appendices | 173 |
Appendix A The Challenge of Shakespeare | 174 |
Loves Labors | 79 |
Lost Years | 88 |
Murdered Spy | 99 |
Martyred Priest | 107 |
Finding the Comedy in the Tragedy | 181 |
Bibliography | 201 |
Index | 207 |