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Historical Shadowplay: Hidden Beliefs and Coded Politics of William Shakespeare by Clare Asquith $14.95 / PublicAffairs / 2005 In dangerously divided 16th-century England, it could be worth your life to admit being Roman Catholic. Though Queen Elizabeth I tended to be more temperate in her response to Catholic orthodoxy than previous monarchs, there was still persecution, particularly under Chief Secretary Walsingham’s fanatically humorless eye. Indeed, the Catholic Counter-Reformation was often forced to promulgate its message through secret codes and symbols. And one of the practitioners of this coded sympathy, if author Clare Asquith is to be believed, was William Shakespeare. In Shadowplay: The Hidden Beliefs and Coded Politics of William Shakespeare, Asquith presents a compelling case for Shakespeare’s hidden Catholic agenda, interpreting his plays and poetry in light of cleverly masked references to Catholic orthodoxy’s goals, struggles, traditions, and martyrs. Through Asquith’s lens, Shakespeare’s characters represent aspects of the religious schism or the major figures from that time, such as martyred priest Edmund Campion, whom Asquith believes Shakespeare might actually have met. She also theorizes that Christopher Marlowe, Shakespeare’s great rival, was murdered for his closet Catholicism; not a new idea, but one which has never received concrete support. Shadowplay provides a fresh look at Shakespeare’s works. It is also a thoughtful and painstakingly researched book, and whether readers come away from it believing her thesis or not, one will undoubtedly have a new appreciation of Shakespeare. — Anjuli MacDonald of Clanranald

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