William Shakespeare: The model Victorian Protestant

Abstract

This essay explores how Shakespeare was viewed in relation to Protestantism in Victorian England. Two abiding themes in the nineteenth century were then, and are still, the status of the established church and the status of Shakespeare as a national icon. How Shakespeare and the Victorian Church of England intersect is thus the focus here, particularly in the light of debates about Shakespeare among Victorian writers, clergymen and academics: debates that turn on biographical as well as polemical and political issues, from Catholic Emancipation to evolutionary science. Examining the Victorian experience of contesting Shakespeare's religious identity may further illuminate current debates about his beliefs and religion.

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