Was Shakespeare a theist or atheist?

Answer 1

This could be argued either way. On his tomb he has had written:

Good frend for Iesus sake forbeare

To digg the dust encloased heare.

Blese be y man y spares thes stones

And curst be he y moves my bones.

This imposes a blessing or a curse on people for how they treat his remains. However, he could be just playing to the superstition of his countrymen.

Similarly, his plays are full of pious words and prayers demonstrating a knowledge of Christian belief and ghosts indicating a belief in an immortal part to people. But, in no play is the outcome affected by divine intervention - no one is struck down by God or miracles - and the the antagonists and protagonists work their own way to a resolution. In none of the plays does he lash out against gods or religion.

The safest assumption would be that he was a public theist.

His private musing on the topic remain private. A look at his many plays may shed light on the subject. His play King Lear, for example, contains some striking examples of humanistic themes that could lend themselves to Atheism. The most notable of which is the storm scene during Lear's madness. The page on Hubpages entitled King Lear Storm Scene and Character Analysis Shows Shakespeare was Atheist in the related links section below provides evidence.