Shakespeare's Common PrayersThe Book of Common Prayer and the Elizabethan Age
Daniel Swift
'See,' says Buckingham in Richard III, 'a book of prayer in his hand.' From its appearance in 1549, the Book of Common Prayer was known by heart by every literate person in England, including William Shakespeare. This engaging, elegantly written study traces the influence of its rhythms and metres, its ambiguities and controversies, on plays such as Measure for Measure, As You Like It, Hamlet and – above all – Macbeth, to create a dazzlingly original portrait of the playwright at work.