This book assesses William Shakespeare in the context of political and religious crisis, paying particular attention to his Catholic connections, which have heretofore been underplayed by much Protestant interpretation. Bourgeois Richmond's most important contribution is to study the genre of romance in its guise as a 'cover' for recusant Catholicism, drawing on a long tradition of medieval-religious plays devoted to the propagation of Catholic religious faith.

Velma Bourgeois Richmond is a past Fulbright Scholar and recipient of an American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship. She is Emeritus Professor of English at the Holy Names College, Oakland, California and is the author of studies of Muriel Spark and Geoffrey Chaucer, Laments for the Dead in Medieval Narrative, The Popularity of Middle English Romance, and The Legend of Guy of Warwick.