Here our prayer: oppositional praying in Titus Andronicus -- "Behold the window of my heart", poems and unheard prayers in Love's labour's lost -- Outpraying prayers in Richard II -- Confessing Claudius: sovereignty, fraternity & isolation at the heart of Hamlet -- An economy of prayer: All's well that ends well -- "Thou pray'st thy gods in vain": King Lear -- "Such a peace": answered prayer in Shakespeare's "late plays" -- Conclusion
Summary
Repeatedly Shakespeare dramatizes one who prays when no one is listening, interested, or even there. This study reads the scenario parallel to early modern anxieties surrounding prayer itself, suggesting a vision of religious syncretism Shakespeare imagines for his world