What religion did Shakespeare believe?

Answer 1

Since we do not know much about the personal life of William Shakespeare, we cannot say for sure what religion he practiced in private. We do know that he was born under the rule of Elizabeth I, who was Protestant and outlawed Catholicism. Thus, Shakespeare's public faith would have been Protestant. Shakespeare's parents, however, were very likely covert Catholics and Shakespeare's father, John, was close friends with William Catesby, the father of the head conspirator in the gunpowder plot to blow the Protestant monarchy to smithereens.

Answer 2

That's a tough question to answer. There is no clear answer. Shakespeare was curiously quiet about his religious beliefs, a quiet that makes it appear that he may in fact have been an atheist.

He was raised Catholic, and his father, who was a prolific business man and political figure, suffered numerous setbacks most likely because of his Catholic faith. Catholics all over England faced discrimination because Catholicism didn't adhere well to the predominately Protestant faith sweeping 16th century England. Shakespeare undoubtedly suffered hardships at the hand of religion.

Furthermore, Shakespeare's Writings show a great number a secular humanist themes. A notable example is the Storm Scene in King Lear. Ryan Buda wrote a great article on Hubpages entitled King Lear Storm Scene and Character Analysis Shows Shakespeare was Atheist that deals with humanist themes in the play. See the related links section below to view it.

Answer 3

The only legal church in England during Shakespeare's life was the Church of England. It was and is a Protestant Christian Church. Its practices and positions are found in daughter churches around the world which are called Anglican or (in the USA) Episcopalian churches.

Answer 4

Shakespeare belonged to the Church of England, a Christian Protestant sect which was the official religion of England and actually still is. In Shakespeare's day, however, everyone not only had to belong to that church but had to attend regular services. Speaking out against it was a criminal offence. So you see that Shakespeare had no choice about his religion, and it is not clear that this bothered him in any way.

Answer 5

The Church of England. In Shakespeare's day, everyone had to belong to this church and it was illegal not to attend its services.

Answer 6

William Shakespeare was a Christian, but there is no evidence as to how devout he was.