My Covenantal Shakespeare course could be subtitled “Idols for Destruction.” As I’ve hinted at elsewhere, the tragic form moves from grace to wrath. As a set, the five plays I’ve examined consider the wrathful destruction of five different idols.
Julius Caesar – the idol of politics
Romeo and Juliet – the idol of romantic love
Hamlet – the idol of vengeance (personally executed justice)
Macbeth – the idol of power
King Lear – the idol of legacy
John Calvin asks, “For what is idolatry if not this: to worship the gifts in place of the giver himself?” Each idol above becomes a replacement for God. Wrath follows.
Experiments in Criticism 