ABSTRACT
Seventeenth-century English society was seized by apocalyptic fervour. Competing religious sects characterized their mission as apocalyptic, with beliefs ranging from a generalised anticipation of the events prophesied in Revelation to the millenarian expectation that Christ would return imminently, reigning on earth for a thousand years. While many apocalyptic adherents were Puritanssometimes urging radical, even violent, change-scholars have increasingly demonstrated the pervasiveness of apocalypticism throughout English society. Bernard Capp contends that religious tensions compounded by the Civil War ‘created millenarian hopes at all levels of society’, and William Lamont argues that millenarianism ‘influenced the mainstream of political thought’.1 Shirley and his contemporaries were undoubtedly aware of the apocalyptic debate surrounding them, and its influence is consequently apparent in their writings. This essay will explore apocalyptic thought as an important political, religious, and aesthetic context for Shirley, investigating his use of apocalyptic imagery and construction of plots that mirror the narrative structure of the Book of Revelation. Shirley’s comedies are rooted in the apocalyptic milieu of their composition.
