The Theologian and the Torturer: Craig Pearce’s Will
Craig Pearce's TNT series Will (2017) incorporates many of the same historical facts used by biographers to argue that Shakespeare was a Catholic, but he employs them to criticize the excesses of fundamentalist religions, past and present. Pearce depicts the Jesuit priest Southwell as both an a...
| Published in: | Religion and the arts |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
[2020]
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| In: |
Religion and the arts
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Will
/ Shakespeare, William 1564-1616
/ Catholicism
/ Torture
/ Puritanism
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| RelBib Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy CG Christianity and Politics KDB Roman Catholic Church KDG Free church |
| Further subjects: | B
Craig Pearce
B Southwell B Shakespeare B Biography B Topcliffe B Catholicism B Will |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | Craig Pearce's TNT series Will (2017) incorporates many of the same historical facts used by biographers to argue that Shakespeare was a Catholic, but he employs them to criticize the excesses of fundamentalist religions, past and present. Pearce depicts the Jesuit priest Southwell as both an ardent defender of his faith and an ambitious zealot who is indifferent to the suffering of his supporters, who are tortured and executed as a result of their connection to him. Concurrently, Pearce portrays Richard Topcliffe, Queen Elizabeth’s torturer, as a Puritan who enjoys sadistically tormenting recusant Catholics on behalf of England’s Protestant government. Pearce links these characterizations to contemporary religious fundamentalists, specifically supporters of enhanced interrogations among the Religious Right and Muslim extremists who perform public executions. The religious partisanism that Pearce condemns in Will should also be avoided in biographical studies of Shakespeare. |
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| ISSN: | 1568-5292 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion and the arts
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15685292-02401005 |