During William Shakespeare's lifetime, the Roman Catholic Church was still going through a difficult time of change in England due to an act some thirty years earlier committed by King Henry VIII . King Henry VIII asked the Pope for an annulment because he believed that with a new wife he could have a child as he had been unsuccessful with his current wife. The Pope denied his annulment, and King Henry VIII was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. He decided to create his own religion called the Church of England. The English people quickly converted to their faith because the remaining Roman Catholics were persecuted. Shakespeare's parents were Catholic and Shakespeare was also believed to be Roman Catholic as he was raised in a practicing Roman Catholic family. His knowledge of the various beliefs in the Roman Catholic faith is clearly expressed when read with "fresh eyes". Shakespeare's works take on new meanings when examined for their allegorical meaning. Religion is expressed in all of Shakespeare's plays, including Hamlet. Former...