William Shakespeare left no diary.<\/p>\n
He inspired no tell-all biographer during his day. He wrote 36 plays (more or less) during a seething period of political convulsion and religious intrigue, but we know neither his politics nor his religion. Was he easy-going Anglican, closet Catholic, flashy atheist, space alien? Will won’t tell. This radiant anti-celebrity Englishman eludes us still.<\/p>\n
Nashvillian Chris Hassel has puzzled over Shakespeare’s poker-faced religion his entire teaching career. Short of outing Shakespeare as heretic, choirboy or druid, Hassel has produced a 455-page dictionary of every religious reference in Shakespeare he can find, more than 1,000 words scrutinized.<\/p>\n
“I’ve never been able to pin him down,” says Hassel, who taught Shakespeare 35 years at Vanderbilt until retirement in 2003.<\/p>\n