SN PLUS 3
SN PLUS 3

Suggestions

Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.
  • Shakespeare dark gray
    • No Fear Shakespeare Translations
    • Shakespeare Study Guides
    • Shakespeare Life & Times
    • Glossary of Shakespeare Terms
  • Literature dark gray
    • No Fear Literature Translations
    • Literature Study Guides
    • Glossary of Literary Terms
    • How to Write Literary Analysis
  • Other Subjects dark gray
    • Biography
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Computer Science
    • Drama
    • Economics
    • Film
    • Health
    • History
    • Math
    • Philosophy
    • Physics
    • Poetry
    • Psychology
    • Short Stories
    • Sociology
    • US Government and Politics
  • Test Prep PLUS dark gray
    • Test Prep Lessons
    • AP® English Literature
    • AP® English Language
  • Teacher dark gray
    • SparkTeach
    • Teacher's Handbook
  • Blog
My PLUS Dashboard
  • My PLUS Activity dark gray
    • Notes
    • Bookmarks
    • Test Prep PLUS
    • No Fear Translations & Audio
    • Mastery Quizzes
    • Flashcards
    • Infographics
    • No Fear Graphic Novels
  • Account Details
  • Subscription & Billing

Please wait while we process your payment

Reset Password

  • Please wait while we process your payment

    Log in Sign up

    Sparknotes

  • By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.

    Don’t have an account? Subscribe now

    Create Your Account

    Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial

    • Ad-free experience
    • Study notes
    • Flashcards
      & Quizzes
    • AP® English Test Prep
    • Plus much more

  • Already have an account? Log in

    Your Email

    Choose Your Plan

    BEST VALUE

    Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!

    Continuing to Payment will take you to astripe-imagepayment page

    Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?

    Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!

  • Price

    $24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax

    Subtotal $37.48 + tax

    Save 25% on 2-49 accounts

    Save 30% on 50-99 accounts

    Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.

    Your Plan

    Payment Details

  • We're sorry, SparkNotes Plus isn't available in your country.

  • Payment Details

    Payment Summary

    SparkNotes Plus

    You'll be billed after your free trial ends.

    7-Day Free Trial

    Not Applicable

    Renews April 9, 2023 April 2, 2023

    Discounts (applied to next billing)

    DUE NOW

    US $0.00

    SNPLUSROCKS20  |  20% Discount

    This is not a valid promo code.

    Discount Code (one code per order)

    SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.

    Choose Your Plan

    Suggestions

    Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.
    • My Account Icon My Account white
      • My PLUS Activity
        • Notes
        • Bookmarks
        • Test Prep PLUS
        • No Fear Translations
        • Mastery Quizzes
        • Flashcards
        • Infographics
        • No Fear Graphic Novels
      • Account Details
      • Subscription & Billing
      My PLUS Dashboard
    • Shakespeare white
      • No Fear Shakespeare Translations
      • Shakespeare Study Guides
      • Shakespeare Life & Times
      • Glossary of Shakespeare Terms
    • Literature white
      • No Fear Literature Translations
      • Literature Study Guides
      • Glossary of Literary Terms
      • How to Write Literary Analysis
    • Other Subjects white
      • Biography
      • Biology
      • Chemistry
      • Computer Science
      • Drama
      • Economics
      • Film
      • Health
      • History
      • Math
      • Philosophy
      • Physics
      • Poetry
      • Psychology
      • Short Stories
      • Sociology
      • US Government and Politics
    • Test Prep PLUS white
      • Test Prep Lessons
      • AP® English Literature
      • AP® English Language
    • Teacher white
      • SparkTeach
      • Teacher's Handbook
    • Blog
    • Help

    Please wait while we process your payment

    expired-logo

    Your PLUS subscription has expired

    • We’d love to have you back! Renew your subscription to regain access to all of our exclusive, ad-free study tools.
    Renew your subscription

    Please wait while we process your payment

    expired-logo

    snpromo-logo
    • Looking for exclusive, AD-FREE study tools? Look no further!

    William Shakespeare’s Life & Times: Puritans

    • Biography
      • Early Life
      • Marriage
      • Shakespeare's Lost Years
      • Early Work
      • Shakespeare’s Sexuality
      • The Closure Of The Theatres
      • The Lord Chamberlain’s Men
      • Shakespeare’s Adversities
      • Shakespeare’s Growing Success
      • Last Plays and Final Years
      • Critical Reputation
    • Historical Context
      • Political
      • Elizabeth I
      • James I
      • Religious
      • The Reformation
      • The English Bible
      • Puritans
      • Theatrical
      • Shakespeare’s Globe Theater
      • Performances at Court
      • Actors
      • Censorship
      • Literary
      • Contemporaries
      • Sources
      • Influences
      • Authorship Controversy
    • Social Context
      • Shakespeare's Women
      • Women in Shakespeare’s England
      • Women in Shakespeare’s Writing
      • Shakespeare's "Others"
      • Jews in Shakespeare’s England
      • Moors in Shakespeare’s England
      • Sex and Shakespeare
      • Sexuality in Shakespeare’s England
      • Sexuality in Shakespeare’s Plays
      • Sexuality in Shakespeare’s Sonnets
      • Sex in Shakespeare’s Writing
    • Top 10 Quotes
    • Plays
      • Tragedy
      • Comedy
      • History
      • Romance
    • Poetry
      • Sonnets
      • Narrative Poems
    • Glossary
      • First Folio
      • Quarto
      • Prose
      • Verse
      • Iambic pentameter
      • Sonnet
      • Heroic Couplet
    • Language
      • A Glossary of Common Shakespearean Words
      • Words Invented by Shakespeare

    When Elizabeth made it compulsory to attend Protestant church services, Catholics weren’t the only religious group to refuse. A small but influential group known as the Puritans believed that the Church of England was not Protestant enough. Discontent began to simmer soon after Elizabeth’s restoration of Protestantism in 1559. In 1563 Puritan reformers sought to abolish all religious symbols from the churches, but Parliament narrowly defeated their bill, and frustrations quickly grew. Puritan voices grew louder in the 1570s, when Dr. Thomas Cartwright, a professor of divinity, preached that the Church of England’s administrative system had no basis in scripture, and that archbishops, archdeacons, and other clergy positions should be dissolved. Although Elizabeth gave some ground to Puritan demands, she strove to maintain the original terms she established for the Church of England back in 1559. Thus, it wasn’t until the reign of King James I that Puritanism found greater favor. The new translation of the Bible, which appeared in 1609, partly responded to Puritan complaints. Though the King James Bible was not explicitly Puritan in its outlook, several Puritans contributed to the translation.

    The Puritans disapproved of many things in Elizabethan society, and one of the things they hated most was the theater. Their chief complaint was that secular entertainments distracted people from worshipping God, though they also felt that the theater’s increasing popularity symbolized the moral iniquity of city life. For instance, they regarded the convention of boy actors playing women’s roles as immoral, and some Puritan preachers even felt that the sinfulness of play-acting either contributed to or else directly caused London’s frequent outbreaks of plague. Unsurprisingly, Elizabethan playwrights frequently made fun of Puritans. Shakespeare’s most famous Puritan character is Malvolio in Twelfth Night. Shakespeare portrays Malvolio as a killjoy and a hypocrite with social ambitions. However, Shakespeare also shows sympathy for Malvolio’s point of view. Throughout the play, Malvolio stands in conflict with Sir Toby Belch and Sir Andrew Aguecheek, and Shakespeare portrays these characters as drunken, selfish, and irresponsible. Although we enjoy watching the latter three men, we can also understand why Malvolio wants to put an end to their fun. In this way, Shakespeare indicates his willingness to entertain the Puritan perspective while simultaneously criticizing that perspective’s extremism.

    Previous section The English Bible Next section Shakespeare’s Globe Theater

    Popular pages: William Shakespeare

    • Shakespeare’s Early Life Biography

    • Shakespeare’s Marriage Biography

    • Queen Elizabeth & Shakespeare Historical Context

    • Women in Shakespeare’s England Social Context

    • Top 10 Shakespeare Quotes Top 10 Shakespeare Quotes

    Take a Study Break

    • QUIZ: Is This a Taylor Swift Lyric or a Quote by Edgar Allan Poe?

    • The 7 Most Embarrassing Proposals in Literature

    • The 6 Best and Worst TV Show Adaptations of Books

    • QUIZ: Which Greek God Are You?

    Sign up for our latest news and updates!
    By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from SparkNotes and verify that you are over the age of 13. You can view our Privacy Policy here. Unsubscribe from our emails at any time.

    SparkNotes—the stress-free way to a better GPA

    • Quick Links
    • No Fear Shakespeare
    • Literature Guides
    • Other Subjects
    • Blog
    • Teacher’s Handbook
    • Premium Study Tools
    • SparkNotes PLUS
    • Sign Up
    • Log In
    • PLUS Help
    • More
    • Help
    • How to Cite SparkNotes
    • How to Write Literary Analysis
    • About
    • Contact Us

    Copyright © SparkNotes LLC

    • Terms of Use
    • |
    • Privacy
    • |
    • Cookie Policy
    • |
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information