The Faith of William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare is arguably the world’s most famous writer. His plays and sonnets have been translated into many different languages, and are performed, read and loved the world over. But what of the man himself? What did he believe? Was he a secret Catholic, like his father, prepared to run the risk of being accused of treachery to the Tudor state? Or was he convinced by the new Protestant teaching? Or maybe did he not believe any of it, just saying and doing what was expected of him, in order to get by in a dangerous age? Shakespearean scholar Graham Holderness examines the evidence, both from Shakespeare’s life and his key works.