Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
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
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Individual
Group Discount
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
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
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews December 16, 2023 December 9, 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 Annual Plan - Group Discount
Qty: 00
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
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
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.