{"product_id":"the-heart-of-his-mystery-shakespeare-and-the-catholic-faith-in-england-under-elizabeth-and-james-paperback","title":"The Heart of His Mystery: Shakespeare and the Catholic Faith in England Under Elizabeth and James - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eWaterfield John Waterfield\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eJohn Waterfield\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShakespeare has traditionally been viewed as Queen Elizabeth's 'poet laureate', and as the official mouthpiece of the Elizabethan age. But the Elizabethan world was torn apart by the religious divisions initiated by the Reformation, and vitiated by the government's merciless persecution of Catholics. As it was the victors who wrote the history, the English Reformation has been portrayed as a peaceful transition enjoying majority support, when in fact it was nothing of the kind. Elizabeth's regime was a police state which sanctioned the use of torture, where Catholic priests and those who harboured them were liable to summary and bloody execution. The persecution of Catholics was continued by James I, evoking the violent response of the Gunpowder Plot.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Heart of His Mystery\u003c\/i\u003e examines Shakespeare's life and work against this background. There is strong biographical evidence that he was himself a Catholic, and a detailed survey of his plays and poems shows that his imagination was intimately bound up with his religious faith. When we realise that his human compassion grew from his membership in a persecuted community, we can glimpse the mystery he has encrypted in his works and we come closer to understanding the hidden heart of Shakespeare the man.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eJohn Waterfield has a D.Phil. in English Literature from the University of Oxford. He has studied Shakespeare all his life. He has two nearly grown-up children, and lives in rural Herefordshire, on the border of Wales, with a cat. This is his third published book.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 682\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.37 x 11 x 8.25 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 17, 2009\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42156194824327,"sku":"9781440143434","price":56.11,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/2623\/2711\/files\/f183b6bc04fd761bf79a0599f29df04e.webp?v=1733241885","url":"https:\/\/booksby.splitshops.com\/products\/the-heart-of-his-mystery-shakespeare-and-the-catholic-faith-in-england-under-elizabeth-and-james-paperback","provider":"Books by splitShops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}