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A 7 page paper which examines the influence of the Christian church and biblical scriptures on the tragedies of this period, those of William Shakespeare in particular. Bibliography lists 9 sources.
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7 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TG15_TGlizscri.rtf
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the Christian Church. While Henry VIII turned his back on the Roman Catholic Church because it refused to sanction his divorce and replaced it with the Anglican Church, there
was a distinct clash between Old World values associated with Catholicism and the New World values of Protestantism (and Puritanism). There was also the development of humanism, or a
marriage of science and philosophy, which occurred during this time. While the traditional scriptures had defined a moral tightrope between good and evil, heaven and hell, with all of
the virtues ultimately determined by God, humanists believed that man played an active role in his actions and in his eventual fate. It was the confusion generated by these
conflicting attitudes and beliefs that was reflected in Elizabethan drama, especially in tragedy. In May of 1559, Elizabeth I, paranoid that the Church would undermine her authority, issued a proclamation
that ordered officials to prohibit all plays "wherein either matters of religion or of the governance of the estate of the common weale shalbe handled or treated" (Roston 114).
This, however, did not deter the considerable influence of Christianity and its scriptures on the dramatic works produced in this period. In fact, Lewis Wagers 1567 morality play based
on biblical teachings, The Life and Repentance of Mary Magdalene, presented a character, Infidelity, as a vice, and portrayed evil as "the inverse of the key Protestant virtue of faith"
(Cole 132). Infidelity, who is the embodiment of both Jewish and Roman Catholic values, is the instrument the play uses to question questions whether or not faith can ever
be sufficiently justified (Cole 132). The tragedies of Christopher Marlowe illustrate the influence of the Church in establishing perceptions and belief systems. His masterpiece, The Tragical History of
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