Where do saints and sinners come into Shakespeare?

Answer 1

Shakespeare uses the words "saints" some 14 times, most memorably in the Romeo and Juliet dialogue "Have not saints lips and holy palmers too?", Richard II's "I'll give my jewels for a set of beads . . . my subjects for a pair of carved saints . . .", or Isabella's "great men may jest with saints, 'tis wit in them but in the less foul, profanation." Also one of his characters, Joan la Pucelle, was declared to be a saint afterwards by the Catholic Church, although Shakespeare certainly did not view her that way. On the other hand, he uses the word "sinners" only four times, most memorably in Hamlet's "Why would thou be a breeder of sinners?" His character Falstaff is certainly a fine example of a sinner, although there are many of them in the plays.