The Victorian Cult of Shakespeare Bardology in the Nineteenth Century Cambridge Studies in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture Series

In the Victorian era, William Shakespeare's work was often celebrated as a sacred text: a sort of secular English Bible. Even today, Shakespeare remains a uniquely important literary figure. Yet Victorian criticism took on religious dimensions that now seem outlandish in retrospect. Ministers wrote sermons based upon Shakespearean texts and delivered them from pulpits in Christian churches. Some scholars crafted devotional volumes to compare his texts directly with the Bible's. Still others created Shakespearean societies in the faith that his inspiration was not like that of other playwrights. Charles LaPorte uses such examples from the Victorian cult of Shakespeare to illustrate the complex relationship between religion, literature and secularization. His work helps to illuminate a curious but crucial chapter in the history of modern literary studies in the West, as well as its connections with Biblical scholarship and textual criticism.

1. Shakespearean sermons and other pious texts; 2. The harmonies and beauties of devotional Shakespeare volumes; 3. The sonnets and the messiah; 4. The authority of the (missing) author; 5. Shakespearean clerisies and perfect texts; Conclusion. Concealed wonders and choice treasures.

Charles LaPorte is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Washington. His Victorian Poets and the Changing Bible (2011) was awarded the Sonya Rudikoff Prize for the best first book in Victorian studies.