I’ve received an e-mail from a student studying Theatre History who is doing a research project on Shakespeare’s Catholicism. The student requested a list of books and essays offering evidence that Shakespeare was a believing Catholic.

My Response:

Regarding your question, you should check out the extensive five-page bibliography in my book, The Quest for Shakespeare. Books I would particularly recommend on Shakespeare’s Catholicism (apart from my own three books on the topic!) are:

John Henry De Groot, The Shakespeares and “The Old Faith” (Real-View Books, 1995)

Carol Curt Enos, Shakespeare and the Catholic Religion (Dorrance Publishing, 2000)

Peter Milward S.J., The Catholicism of Shakespeare’s Plays (Saint Austin Press, 1997)

Peter Milward S.J., Shakespeare the Papist (Sapientia Press, 2005)

Peter Milward S.J., Shakespeare’s Religious Background (Indiana University Press, 1973)

Mutschmann and Wentersdorf, Shakespeare’s and Catholicism (Sheed and Ward, 1952)

Richard Simpson, The Religion of Shakespeare (Burns and Oates, 1899)

Taylor and Beauregard, eds., Shakespeare and the Culture of Christianity in Early Modern England (Fordham University Press, 2003)

Ian Wilson, Shakespeare: The Evidence (St. Martin’s Griffin, 1999)

For essays on Shakespeare’s Catholicism, I would recommend any of the Ignatius Critical Editions of Shakespeare’s plays and also the several issues of the St. Austin Review which have been published on a Shakespearean theme.