‘The Law of a Commonweal’: The Social Vision of Hooker’s Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity and Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew

Abstract

Hooker’s Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity and Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew represent the issues of sociality and dissent in strikingly similar terms and articulate a common social vision. Both writers strive to harmonize social unity with inward liberty. Hooker seeks not only to refute the non-conformity of his Puritan opponents, but to reconcile them, in both heart and mind, to the social order to which they belong. Similarly, Petruchio convincingly demonstrates to Katherine that the common good and her own personal happiness substantially coincide in the reciprocity and communion of marriage.