Dramatic Theology? Rowan Williams’ “Shakespeare in Love: Ten Prospects”

ABSTRACT: This discussion will focus on Rowan Williams’ poetic sequence entitled “Shakespeare in Love: Ten Prospects” (Collected Poems, 137–141, 2021). Human language constitutes a major concern of this composition and of its various speakers, who may represent figures from the plays, members of the audience who witness a theatrical performance or, possibly, readers enacting the poem in their own minds. Williams’ composition explores thus the relationship between the written word of poetry and the spoken word of theatre, by which it foregrounds the performative potential of poetry. My aim is to explore how Rowan Williams’ concept of the ‘dramatized Word’ may be illuminated by the version of ‘dramatic theology’ proposed by Michael Edwards in Towards a Christian Poetics (1984), in which he treats tragedy and comedy as manifestations of the Pascalian misère of language, always pointing towards its grandeur.

I am a graduate of the Faculty of Languages of University of Gdansk (2022), where I studied English Language and Literature. I am currently enrolled in a four-year programme of doctoral studies at the same university, researching the theme of Divine Revelation in the poetry of Rowan Williams under the supervision of Professor Jean Ward. I also have some teaching experience in the field of literary studies in English.