Shakespeare and the Bible

Shakespeare and the Bible concerns how Shakespeare borrowed concepts and metaphors from the Bible -- the popular Geneva Bible English translation -- without expressly citing it.

Scholars trace Shakespeare's invocation for marriage of the metaphors “fountain” and “cistern” to the Geneva Bible's unique translation of Proverbs 5:15-18 (GNV). Another example is Shakespeare's famous lines in Macbeth that "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow ... And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. ... Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more," which appears to be from James 4:14 (GNV): "(And yet ye cannot tell what shall be tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and afterward vanisheth away.)" It is known that Shakespeare used the Geneva Bible because at least a half-dozen of his borrowed material is from the Apocrypha, which the Geneva Bible included until 1600 when the Puritans removed those books.

The most likely reason for the omission of direct quotations of the Bible in Shakespeare's plays is that theaters were like taverns, and many churchgoers shunned theater as inherently immoral. Theater is not where people went to hear about the Bible, any more than taverns are. That ultimately changed in the United States, but not until 1899 with the spectacular success of the stage production of Ben-Hur.

Another possible reason for this omission by Shakespeare is that England had vague, arbitrarily enforced laws against blasphemy. There was no freedom of speech in England during Shakespeare's time. Many English authors, not just Shakespeare, avoided biblical references and the long-term effect of this was to produce a nation of atheists. For example, Jane Austen never referred to Bible verses in her many works either. Charles Dickens, 250 years later, felt he had to keep his book The Life of our Lord a secret from the British public.

A third possible reason is that England's history of religious conflict discouraged people from invoking Scriptures outside of church, particularly in an entertainment venue. The divisive topic was no laughing matter, and hardly lent itself to comedy, romance, and sarcasm, as much of Shakespeare's works were.

A fourth possible reason is that Shakespeare's focus was on the flaws in human nature, not on overcoming them, and on themes of romance about which the Bible says little.

Several additional possible explanations for this omission are:

• as sometimes-bawdy entertainment of its time, biblical references would not have fit;
• Shakespeare himself was a Catholic with little knowledge about the Bible;
• Shakespeare aspired for his work to be great on its own, separate and independent from the greatness of the Bible, sometimes ostensibly suggesting his own verses (see 2 Henry VI);
• Most of Shakespeare's characters are entertainingly selfish scoundrels unlikely to quote from the Bible;
• Perhaps Shakespeare, a commoner, did not know how to read, or did not read much if he did know; and
• the King James Version was being written in the middle of the period of Shakespeare's work, and perhaps uncertainty about its wording led Shakespeare to wait and see.

That said, Hamlet as Shakespeare's greatest work is considered by some to draw heavily from the Bible, but not expressly.

Bible References

Scholars estimate that "there are roughly 1,350 total identifiable instances where Shakespeare references or quotes directly from the Bible found throughout his plays."

See also

• Encyclopedia Britannica entry about Shakespeare