Shakespeare and the Play Scripts of Private Prayer

Early modern private prayer is skilled at narrative and drama. In manuals and sermons on how to pray, collections of model prayers, scholarly treatises about biblical petitions, and popular tracts about life crises prompting calls to God, prayer is valued as a powerful agent of change. Model prayers create stories about people in distinct ranks and jobs, with concrete details about real-life situations. These characters may act in play-lets, or appear in the middleof difficulties, or voice a suite of petitions from all sides of a conflict. Thinking of early modern private prayers as dramatic dialogues rather than lyric monologues raises the question of whether play-going and praying were mutually reinforcing practices. Could dramatists deploying prayer on stagerely on having audience members who were already expert at making up roles for themselves in prayer, and who expected their petitions to have the power to intervene in major events? Does prayer's focus on cause and effect structure the historiography of Shakespeare's Henry VI, Richard III, Richard II, Henry V, and Henry VIII?

This engaging study is two books in one: a book on the social and psychological dynamics of private prayer in early modern England; and a book on the role of prayer in Shakespeare's history plays. Each is a significant contribution to the literature of the period as well as to performance studies in general., Sullivan presents a clear and engaging study of how Shakespeare engaged with and incorporated aspects of private prayer manuals into his history plays. Shakespeare and the Play Scripts of Private Prayer is a compelling addition to the research on religion, prayer and Shakespeare. The book is easy to follow, with a clearly structured argument that would attract undergraduate students and experienced scholars alike., What makes a monograph remarkable is its ability to answer unexplored questions and point toward new avenues within its field, and Sullivan's text completes both of these goals ... this study is a fruitful endeavor in its interdisciplinary contribution.

Ceri Sullivan is a Professor of English Literature at Cardiff University, and the author of five books about the literary features that structure early modern texts about religion, trade, bureaucracy, and rhetoric. She was educated at the University of Oxford, and was formerly a banking systems analyst in the City of London and an NGO worker in sub-Saharan Africa.