Citizen-Saints Shakespeare and Political Theology.
- Chicago : University of Chicago Press, (c)2014.
- 1 online resource (291 pages)
Includes bibliographies and index.
Acknowledgments; A Note on Texts; Introduction; One: Citizen Paul; Two: Deformations of Fellowship in Marlowe's ""Jew of Malta""; Three: Merchants of Venice, Circles of Citizenship; Four: Othello Circumcised; Five: Antigone in Vienna; Six: Creature Caliban; Seven: Samson Dagonistes; Epilogue: The Literature of Citizenship: A Humanifesto; Notes; Bibliography; Index.
Turning to the potent idea of political theology to recover the strange mix of political and religious thinking during the Renaissance, this bracing study reveals in the works of Shakespeare and his sources the figure of the citizen-saint, who represents at once divine messenger and civil servant, both norm and exception. Embodied by such diverse personages as Antigone, Paul, Barabbas, Shylock, Othello, Caliban, Isabella, and Samson, the citizen-saint is a sacrificial figure: a model of moral and aesthetic extremity who inspires new regimes of citizenship with his or her death and martyrd.
9780226157443
Political theology--History of doctrines--16th century. Political plays, English--History and criticism. Christian drama, English--History and criticism. Christian saints in literature. Citizenship in literature.