Shakespeare and the Play Scripts of Private Prayer by Ceri Sullivan (review)

Ceri Sullivan's monograph analyzes English private prayers within the early modern period by emphasizing specific qualities of prayer-related publications and how those features influenced Shakespeare's history plays. This book specifically identifies the ways Shakespeare's work is enhanced through historically relevant religious publications. Sullivan highlights Shakespeare's tendency to use self-composed prayer and private devotion in his plays over public sermons and extracts from prewritten documents, although this is not to say that Shakespeare entirely ignored the Book of Common Prayer. Sullivan's monograph is an example of how scholars of early modernity may gain new insight by incorporating more detailed studies of Protestant devotion into their works, something that Sullivan notes has been underemphasized thus far.

In general terms, Sullivan's monograph investigates "the narrative and dramatic skills shown in early modern private prayers" and the ways that the literature of the period displays how "prayer is valued as a powerful agent of change as well as an expression of emotion" (2). Sullivan navigates these archival documents by emphasizing patterns that encouraged early modern readers to have conversations with God, whose perceived identity was shaped through both textual and less formal methods in the period. The work moves away from the binary that "devotion was ideally a matter of self- torment or ecstasy" outlined in previous texts and highlights "less zealous, more down-to-earth responses" that represent a more everyday relationship with prayers and praying (14). To cover this material in further detail, Sullivan thoroughly cultivates an arc of reasoning that moves from the foundational elements of advice texts and performances of prayer and into more specific characteristics regarding the various debates centered around the technicalities of prayer, language, and relationships with God. In doing so, Sullivan provides the framework for what private prayer means within the early modern era and actively moves against assumptions that private prayer needed to be solitary, an aspect illustrated by the author's later analysis of plays like 2 Henry VI.

This argument, reemphasized through the Shakespearean case studies after the second chapter, points toward an individualized relationship with God manifested through intentionality and focus, even if others listened to the prayer. As Sullivan also highlights, what is unique about the development of personalized devotions in the early modern period are the elements of creativity, encouraged by the importance placed on accessibility so all people could have a consistent relationship with God. Sullivan further underlines the debates between premeditated and improvised prayer and contention about repetition, prayer length, and the speaker's identity. However, despite these points of controversy, the primary goal for advice texts was to teach individuals to speak to God skillfully with sincerity, ingenuity, and forethought. As Sullivan indicates throughout the rest of the text, Shakespeare's characters showcase varying degrees of ability—or a lack of skill entirely—to cultivate a productive, conversational relationship with God fostered by these approaches to private prayer.

Sullivan's analysis of model prayers emphasizes considerations of performance quality, emotion, and alternative perspectives through compassion for others. The work examines how these ideas are translated into 2 and 3 Henry VI through a dramatist's historiographic components, as shown through the analysis of Henry VI's empathetic consultations with God compared to the insincere prayers of politicians. Therefore, Sullivan's monograph highlights how private prayer in historical plays can offer in-depth commentary inside the narrative itself. Sullivan also underlines the beliefs about the power of individualized devotion by perceiving God's role in both the origins and outcomes of events. Although many sought a response from God through methods of private prayer, particularly in dire moments, it becomes apparent that all individuals do not necessarily achieve God's favor. Sullivan's focus on Richard III and Henry V reinforces this perspective, where characters attempt to manipulate God through prayer as vengeful cursing and fortification of militaristic strength. The characters exhibit self-certainty that allows them to link requests through prayer...