Shakespeare and the Bible
In no respect is the varied universal play of Shakespeare's genius more fully shown than in the use he makes of the Bible. He treats the Scriptures as if they belonged to him. Bishop Wordsworth, in his "Shakespeare and the Bible," finds in the poet more than 550 biblical quotations, allusions, references, and sentiments. "Hamlet" alone contains about eighty; "Richard the Third," nearly fifty; "Henry the Fifth" and "Richard the Second," about forty each. Shakespeare quotes from fifty-four of the biblical books, and not one of his thirty-seven plays is without a scriptural reference. Genesis furnishes the poet with thirty-one quotations or allusions, the Psalms with fifty-nine, Proverbs with thirty-five, Isaiah with twenty-one, Matthew with sixty, Luke with thirty-three, and Romans with twenty-three.—The Nineteenth Century.