From Catholicism To Protestantism
During the 16th century, Catholicism was the dominant religion in England. It was considered the norm, and Protestantism was just a thought in the minds of some. However, there was some serious tension in the country concerning religion because of people who were concerned about how the Catholic Church was taking advantage of its followers in order to scam money off of them. How? By creating a magical place known as Purgatory.
The rough idea is that the Catholic Church created the concept of Purgatory to scam people by insisting that their dead relatives were not, in fact, strumming harps and wearing baggy white robes in heaven, but were instead lurking around in an intermediate place between heaven and hell, and that the dead could only ascend to heaven after a long time spent suffering in order to be purified (a long time ranging from a couple decades to several centuries); this waiting time could, however, be shortened if the living were willing to pay the church a handsome fee for their services. (1)
However, some people decided they didn't want to spend all of their money on this idea of a place that they didn't really believe existed (though one can't help but wonder why they were so distrustful of the idea of Purgatory but not Heaven and Hell). (2) A German monk named Martin Luther started preaching about the issues he had with the Catholic Church, and how he wanted to change its practices and mentality for the better. (1) After he wrote a letter in 1517 pointing out the corruption the Catholic Church, he built up a large following that he continued to preach to throughout later years. Around 1570, they succeeded in forming Protestantism, and came out of the woodworks, calling themselves "Lutherans". (3)
During the 16th century, Catholicism was the dominant religion in England. It was considered the norm, and Protestantism was just a thought in the minds of some. However, there was some serious tension in the country concerning religion because of people who were concerned about how the Catholic Church was taking advantage of its followers in order to scam money off of them. How? By creating a magical place known as Purgatory.
The rough idea is that the Catholic Church created the concept of Purgatory to scam people by insisting that their dead relatives were not, in fact, strumming harps and wearing baggy white robes in heaven, but were instead lurking around in an intermediate place between heaven and hell, and that the dead could only ascend to heaven after a long time spent suffering in order to be purified (a long time ranging from a couple decades to several centuries); this waiting time could, however, be shortened if the living were willing to pay the church a handsome fee for their services. (1)
However, some people decided they didn't want to spend all of their money on this idea of a place that they didn't really believe existed (though one can't help but wonder why they were so distrustful of the idea of Purgatory but not Heaven and Hell). (2) A German monk named Martin Luther started preaching about the issues he had with the Catholic Church, and how he wanted to change its practices and mentality for the better. (1) After he wrote a letter in 1517 pointing out the corruption the Catholic Church, he built up a large following that he continued to preach to throughout later years. Around 1570, they succeeded in forming Protestantism, and came out of the woodworks, calling themselves "Lutherans". (3)
The Religious Confusion and How it Relates to Hamlet
Queen Elizabeth the First was the Queen of England during the Protestant Revolution, and so witnessed the birth and growth of a new religion. Elizabeth herself had more Protestant leanings, and knew that nothing good would come out of a country that is split by religious differences. Smart lady.
Elizabeth's father, Henry VIII, had created the Anglican Church in an attempt to divorce his wife, after the Pope refused to allow him to do so, because he wanted a wife who could give birth to a son as soon as possible. (4) Predictably, there was tension between the Anglicans and Catholics, and it was Elizabeth who ended the fighting by declaring England to be an Anglican nation, while ending the persecution of Catholics.
Now onto the big man himself, Shakespeare. He wrote Hamlet over the course of three years at the end of the 16th century. Shakespeare was British. There's little doubt that some of the religious confusion happening in the country at the time influenced his writing. One of the noticeable inconsistencies in Hamlet is whether or not the characters believe in Purgatory. (5) Although Denmark was mostly Lutheran at the time Shakespeare was writing Hamlet, (6) the play is set sometime in the 14th or 15th century; at this point in time, Protestantism didn't even exist! This means that of the Christian religions present at the time, Denmark was more Catholic than anything else. Talk about confusing.
The general idea is this: Hamlet is based on a time period where there wasn't much religious tension in Denmark; the time during which it was written, however, was chock full of vaguely defined religions with more similarities than differences, creating an interesting atmosphere for when Shakespeare wrote his play.
Queen Elizabeth the First was the Queen of England during the Protestant Revolution, and so witnessed the birth and growth of a new religion. Elizabeth herself had more Protestant leanings, and knew that nothing good would come out of a country that is split by religious differences. Smart lady.
Elizabeth's father, Henry VIII, had created the Anglican Church in an attempt to divorce his wife, after the Pope refused to allow him to do so, because he wanted a wife who could give birth to a son as soon as possible. (4) Predictably, there was tension between the Anglicans and Catholics, and it was Elizabeth who ended the fighting by declaring England to be an Anglican nation, while ending the persecution of Catholics.
Now onto the big man himself, Shakespeare. He wrote Hamlet over the course of three years at the end of the 16th century. Shakespeare was British. There's little doubt that some of the religious confusion happening in the country at the time influenced his writing. One of the noticeable inconsistencies in Hamlet is whether or not the characters believe in Purgatory. (5) Although Denmark was mostly Lutheran at the time Shakespeare was writing Hamlet, (6) the play is set sometime in the 14th or 15th century; at this point in time, Protestantism didn't even exist! This means that of the Christian religions present at the time, Denmark was more Catholic than anything else. Talk about confusing.
The general idea is this: Hamlet is based on a time period where there wasn't much religious tension in Denmark; the time during which it was written, however, was chock full of vaguely defined religions with more similarities than differences, creating an interesting atmosphere for when Shakespeare wrote his play.