Christian Humanism in Shakespeare: A Study in Religion and Literature

by Lee Oser

"Oser reviews the rival cases for a Protestant Shakespeare and for a Catholic Shakespeare, but leaves the issue open, focusing, instead, on how Shakespeare exploits artistic resources that are specific to Christianity, including the classical-Christian rhetorical tradition. The scope of the book ranges from an introductory survey of the critical field as it now stands, to individual chapters on A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice, the Henriad, Hamlet, and King Lear. Oser holds that mainstream literary criticism has created a false picture of Shakespeare by secularizing him and misconstruing the nature of his art. Through careful study of the plays, the author portrays Shakespeare as a friend to the enduring project of humanistic education"--

Genres: Shakespeare, Literary Criticism

300 pages, Paperback

Published June 10, 2022

About the author

Lee Oser (born in 1958 in New York City) is a Roman Catholic novelist and literary critic. He was educated at Reed College and Yale University, where he received his PhD in English in 1995. He teaches Religion and Literature at the College of the Holy Cross, in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

A welcome oasis in the swelter of hijacked humanities. Oser braves the tangle of Shakespeare related scholarship, intimidating for its mass alone, to draw a refreshed reading for the amateur and the academic.

Shakespeare has been co-opted by activist intellectuals. Against this effort, Oser does not so much as christen Shakespeare as remind the reader of the Bard's long held status as baptized. Very approachable in size, scale, and tone, Oser's narrative takes the reader through several plays, highlighting Christian elements high and low. This follows a very accessible introduction to his methodology and mindset with pleasant asides that involve other great writers (Dickens, Eliot, James, and learned divines before and within Christendom). He engages with the modernist agenda as he excavates the once plainly understood Christian context of Hamlet, Lear, and the Henries. The footnotes are a great support and provide quick glimpses down longer corridors of Shakespearean scholarship should the reader feel so inclined to take up the journey. The breadth of research is evident in the quality of the Oser's arguments; he both loves his charge and does not submit to sentiment in the fashion of the moderns.

Oser provides a heartening resuscitation of Shakespeare's availability to the Judeo-Christian readership. He does not deny the possibility or applicability of other readings. His great thesis throughout is the pliability of art for the soul's struggle with truth. Please read!