Shakespeare’s Common Prayers

The Book of Common Prayer was the most popular book in early modern England; it was also a key source for Shakespeare’s plays of the period 1598-1606, in which the playwright repeatedly borrows the phrases and instructions from church rites and transforms them into dense, precise theatrical moments. Daniel Swift, Senior Lecturer in English at the New College of the Humanities, will explore how Shakespeare adapted, stole, and metamorphosed this vital source.