Contains original essays on every Shakespearean tragedy from Titus Andronicus to Coriolanus. Includes thirteen additional essays on such topics as Shakespeare's Roman tragedies, Shakespeare's tragedies on film, Shakespeare's tragedies of love, Hamlet in performance, and tragic emotion in Shakespeare.

This collection of essays focuses on the place of Roman Catholicism in early modern England, bringing new perspectives to bear on the question of whether Shakespeare himself was Catholic.