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A review of Jeffrey Knapp\u2019s Shakespeare\u2019s Tribe <\/i> in the November 7 TLS <\/i> begins with the comment that Elizabethan dramatists approached their work with a missionary aim: \u201cCountering the fears of religious commentators who believed acting to be nothing more than hypocrisy, this approach admitted the element of deception in theatre but saw dramatic entertainment as a way of cozening the viewer into religion and morality. It went hand in hand with the idea that communal festivity was beneficial to society, and the tendency ?Einspired by a selective reading of Erasmus and other eirenically minded theologians ?Eto minimize the contentious points in religion.\u201d Shakespeare in particular, Knapp argues, had this aim: \u201cAs Knapp sees it, Shakespeare presents the collective endeavour of actors and audience as a sacramental activity to compare with, or even rival, those taking place in church.\u201d In his interpretation of He nry <\/i> V, which begins with whispered plottings among high-placed bishops, the hero \u201cchampions communal enterprise\u201d and the Chorus calls on the audience to take part in the imagining of the play. Knapp: \u201cHarry steals communion from the clergy, and the theater steals communion from Harry.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A review of Jeffrey Knapp\u2019s Shakespeare\u2019s Tribe in the November 7 TLS begins with the comment that Elizabethan dramatists approached their work with a missionary aim: \u201cCountering the fears of religious commentators who believed acting to be nothing more than hypocrisy, this approach admitted the element of deception in theatre but saw dramatic entertainment as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-literature"],"yoast_head":"\n