Shadowplay
Subtitle: the hidden beliefs and coded politics of William Shakespeare
By: Clare Asquith.
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Published: 2005
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 348
Subjects: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Political and social views; Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Knowledge -- History; Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Religion; Politics and literature -- Great Britain -- History -- 16th century; Literature and history -- Great Britain -- History -- 16th century; Christianity and literature -- England -- History -- 16th century; Historical drama, English -- History and criticism; Political plays, English -- History and criticism; Catholics -- England -- History -- 16th century; Catholics -- England -- Intellectual life
Description: Examines possible hidden code terms and double meanings in Shakespeare's plays, which the author maintains was the playwright's way of registering his dissent to the political situation in Elizabethan England.

"In sixteenth-century England many loyal subjects to the crown were asked to make a terrible choice: serve their monarch or their God. The schism between the Crown and the Catholic Church had widened from a theological dispute in the reign of Henry VIII to bitter political conflict under Elizabeth I. It was also the era of the greatest creative genius the world has ever known: William Shakespeare. How, then, was it possible that such a remarkable man born into such violently volatile times should apparently make no comment about the state of England in his work? He did. But it was hidden." "Clare Asquith traces the common code used covertly by dissident writers in the sixteenth century to discuss the tribulations of their time, and reveals that the acknowledged master of this forgotten art form was William Shakespeare. Constantly attacking and exposing a regime that he believed had seized illegal control of the country he loved, Shakespeare's work, seen from this new perspective, offers a revelatory insight into the politics and personalities of his era."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p.  ) and index.