| My dissertation focuses on the new "religious turn" to Shakespeare studies. I argue that Shakespeare reworks the religious, secular and cultural tensions of his period in such a manner that his drama resembles, even anticipates, the diverse facets of postmodern theology. Postmodern theology---theology understood not as a form of belief or confessional line but as an approach to analyzing texts---rejects the idea that religion is simply an oppressive state apparatus, and seeks instead to demonstrate how theology is as fascinating, informative, and socially relevant as other approaches. I utilize many writers from literary theory, cultural studies, contemporary theology, and continental philosophy---such as Georges Bataille, Emmanuel Levinas, Jacques Derrida, Jean-Luc Marion, Richard Kearney, Mark C. Taylor, J.J. Altizer, John Milbank, Graham Ward, Amy Hollywood, Slavoj Zizek, etc.,---and yet I also maintain Shakespeare's authorial integrity and historical context. Since postmodern theology infuses cultural studies, my dissertation situates Shakespeare's drama between theology and a diverse range of early modern cultural discourses. In the first chapter, I examine the theological dimensions of Renaissance cosmology and subjectivity in The Comedy of Errors. In the second chapter, I discuss mysticism and eroticism in Measure for Measure, Othello and Much Ado About Nothing. In the third chapter, I explore the theological discourses involving aesthetics and economics in Macbeth, Timon of Athens and The Winter's Tale. And the fourth concerns the political theology, history and eschatology of Richard II, Richard III and Cymbeline. I claim that Shakespeare's drama, precisely because it interlocks theology with cultural discourses, is an especially appropriate site in which to explore how postmodern theology offers a new way of understanding the influence of religion in Shakespeare's plays. |
