Author: R. Chris Hassel Jr. File Type: pdf Religious issues and discourse are key to an understanding of Shakespeares plays and poems. This dictionary discusses over 1000 words and names in Shakespeares works that have a religious connotation. Its unique word-by-word approach allows equal consideration of the full nuance of each of these words, from abbess to zeal. It also gradually reveals the persistence, the variety, and the sophistication of Shakespeares religious usage. Frequent attention is given to the prominence of Reformation controversy in these words, and to Shakespeares often ingenious and playful metaphoric usage of them. Theological commonplaces assume a major place in the dictionary, as do overt references to biblical figures, biblical stories and biblical place-names biblical allusions church figures and saints. **Review Chris Hassel is the right scholar to grasp the nettle of Shakespeares religious language, since Hassels authority where Shakespeare and religion are concerned is well established. This dictionary is a mine of helpful information, and everyone will learn something from it. Shakespeare Quarterly This is an authoritative volume that will be an important addition to collections in Elizabethan literature and music American Reference Books Annual The great strength of Hassels dictionary is that it is more than a dictionary, stepping past vocabulary into context... scrupulous in explaining what words need not mean...quicker and handier than an online concordance...and goes well beyond a dictionarys basic briefs the helpfully selective bibliography is particularly strong on recent criticism... it should retain long-term value as a reference work, both for those in search of proof texts and those fascinated by the sinuous operation of Shakespearean religious metaphor. Times Literary Supplement Given the saturation of Christian thought and symbol in Shakespeares cultural lexicon, selecting the words and their meanings was perhaps more difficult for Hassel (Vanderbilt Univ.) than for other authors. Cloister, for example, may have obvious Christian significance, but the theological shades of meaning in words such as beneath or memory are far more subtle. This lexicographer does a fine job of illuminating these nuances, both with contextual references and contemporary commentary from writers such as Henry Bullinger, John Donne, and Lancelot Andrewes. Hassel has an expansive grasp of his material, making reference to both Catholic and Protestant sources, but he wisely refrains from trying to tease out Shakespeares own beliefs. The extensive bibliography of primary and secondary sources is useful for advanced students and scholars. The specificity of the subject matter makes this a suitable purchase for libraries with comprehensive Shakespeare collections or that support intensive study of the early modern period. Summing Up Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through researchersfaculty. - *CHOICE * Book Description A major reference resource for all students and scholars of Shakespeare now available in paperback from the Arden Shakespeare.