Uncover the linguistic influence of King James Bible on English literature
Uncover the linguistic influence of King James Bible on English literature
A brief discussion of the King James Bible's influence on English literature.
Courtesy of Folger Shakespeare Library; CC-BY-SA 4.0 (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
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Courtesy of Folger Shakespeare Library; CC-BY-SA 4.0 (A Britannica Publishing Partner)A brief discussion of the King James Bible's influence on English literature.
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Courtesy of the British Film InstitutePuck putting “a girdle round about the earth” to gather the love-in-idleness flower in the 1909 silent film version of A Midsummer Night's Dream. This scene occurs in Act II, scene 1, of Shakespeare's play.
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© Open University (A Britannica Publishing Partner)Jean Rhys's work is animated by a spirit of wanting to speak for those who are voiceless.
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Courtesy of Folger Shakespeare Library; CC-BY-SA 4.0 (A Britannica Publishing Partner)William Shakespeare's Othello is discussed by the cast and crew of a Folger Shakespeare Library production of the play.
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Courtesy of Folger Shakespeare Library; CC-BY-SA 4.0 (A Britannica Publishing Partner)Writing by women in English during the 16th and 17th centuries is more common than once thought—and women scholars today are leading efforts to rediscover these authors.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.J.E. Luebering, director of Encyclopædia Britannica's Core Editorial Group, discussing five writers he considers representative of English literature during the 19th century.
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Courtesy of Folger Shakespeare Library; CC-BY-SA 4.0 (A Britannica Publishing Partner)Learn how Abraham Lincoln's studying of William Shakespeare and the King James Bible helped him to compose perhaps the best-remembered address in American history.
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© Open University (A Britannica Publishing Partner)Learn about the King James Version's contributions to the English language.
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.Discussion of the historic Globe Theatre and the modern-day replica of it in Bankside, London.
News •
Rare 400-year-old Bible sold for £23k at auction in York
• Dec. 9, 2025, 12:29 AM ET (BBC)
Transcript
HANNIBAL HAMLIN: In terms of what's made the King James Bible so influential-- some of it has to do with the power of the language. It's a masterpiece of English literature. There's no way around that. I think has had a huge influence on all sorts of aspects of English literature and culture. But some of those, like the influence on say the English language or culture more broadly, are harder to track.
The influence on literature is a little easier. You can see how the King James Bible language is used in works like Milton's Paradise Lost or John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress or, in the United States, Melville's Moby-Dick or in poetry from Walt Whitman to Allen Ginsberg's "Howl."
For the most part, when English-speaking writers are using biblical language or alluding to biblical passages, it's the King James Bible version that they have in mind.
The influence on literature is a little easier. You can see how the King James Bible language is used in works like Milton's Paradise Lost or John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress or, in the United States, Melville's Moby-Dick or in poetry from Walt Whitman to Allen Ginsberg's "Howl."
For the most part, when English-speaking writers are using biblical language or alluding to biblical passages, it's the King James Bible version that they have in mind.
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