Naseeb Shaheen


Naseeb Azeez Shaheen was an American scholar who specialized in Biblical allusions in the work of Shakespeare.
Born in Chicago, he graduated in 1962 from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon with a Bachelor of Arts. In 1965, he received a Master of Arts and, in 1969, a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of California at Los Angeles. Shaheen was a professor of English Literature at the University of Memphis. His course work included Shakespeare, English Renaissance Literature, and The Bible as Literature.
Shaheen authored four books on the biblical allusions in Shakespeare's plays: tragedies ; histories ; comedies ; a selection of plays.

Selected works

  • "Of Oreb, or Of Sinai" English Language Notes 9 : 25-28.
  • "Spenser and the New Testament" American Notes & Queries 10 : 4.
  • "Milton's Muse and the De Doctrina" Milton Quarterly 8 : 72-76.
  • Biblical References in The Faerie Queene, Memphis State University Press.
  • "Binder Unbound, Or, How Not to Convert the Jews" Studies in Short Fiction 13 : 376.
  • "Butler's Use of Scripture in the Way of All Flesh" Essays in Literature 5 : 39-51.
  • "‘Trifles Light as Air': A Note on Othello, III. iii. 313" Notes and Queries 27 : 169-170.
  • "A Warning for Fair Women and the Ur-Hamlet" Notes and Queries 30 : 126-127.
  • "Misconceptions about the Geneva Bible" Studies in Bibliography Vol. 37,, pp. 156–158.
  • "Shakespeare and the Rheims New Testament" American Notes & Queries 22 : 70.
  • "The Incest Theme in Hamlet" Notes and Queries 32 : 51-a-51.
  • "Shakespeare and the True Tragedy of Richard the Third" Notes and Queries 32 : 32-33.
  • "Shakespeare and the Geneva Bible: "Hamlet", I.iii.54" Studies in Bibliography Vol. 38,, pp. 201–203.
  • Biblical References in Shakespeare's Tragedies, Newark: University of Delaware Press, .
  • "Shakespeare's Knowledge of the Bible - How Acquired" Shakespeare Studies Vol. 20,, p. 201.
  • Biblical References in Shakespeare's History Plays, Newark: University of Delaware Press,,.
  • "Biblical References in Love's Labour's Lost" Notes and Queries 38 : 55-56.
  • "Shylock's ‘Abram’ in The Merchant of Venice" Notes and Queries 38 : 56-57.
  • "Shakespeare, the Psalter, and the Vulgate in "Henry V" Shakespeare Quarterly Vol. 43, No. 1, pp. 71–72.
  • "A Young Scholar from Rheims" English Language Notes 30 : 7.
  • "Shakespeare's Knowledge of Italian" Shakespeare Survey 47: 161. "Studies the Italian narrative sources of William Shakespeare's plays. Shakespeare's acquaintance with John Florio's language manuals; Adherence of Shakespeare's plays to his Italian sources; Evidence in `The Merchant of Venice.'"
  • "Shakespeare and the Tomson New Testament" Notes and Queries 42 : 290-291.
  • "Biblical Echoes in Troilus and Cressida" Notes and Queries 43 : 160-162.
  • "A Note on Troilus and Cressida, II.iii.1–37" Notes and Queries 44 : 503-505.
  • "Shakespeare and the Authorized Version" Notes and Queries 45 : 343-345.
  • Biblical References in Shakespeare's Plays, Newark: University of Delaware Press,,. "This volume provides a survey of the English Bibles of Shakespeare's day, notes their similarities and differences, and indicates which version the playwright knew best. The biblical references in each of Shakespeare's plays are then analyzed, as are his references to the Prayer Book and the homilies. The question of what constitutes a valid biblical reference is also discussed."
  • "Shakespeare and the Bishops' Bible" Notes and Queries 47 : 94-97.
  • "The Taverner Bible, Jugge's Edition of Tyndale, and Shakespeare" English Language Notes 38 : 24.
  • "Biblical References in Julius Caesar" Notes and Queries 49 : 226-227.
  • "Collecting Pre-King James English Bibles" Private Library 6 : 52-61.
  • "Shakespeare's Sonnet 146" English Language Notes 41 : 15-19.
  • "Henry V and Its Quartos" Shakespeare Newsletter 57 : 43-48.
  • "Ruth 3:15—The ‘He’ and ‘She’ Bibles" 'Notes and Queries' 56 : 621-624.
  • Biblical References in Shakespeare's Plays University of Delaware Press,,.

Book Reviews by Shaheen

  • "Book Review of Shakespeare's Religious Background by Peter Milward " Shakespeare Studies 10: 368.
  • "Book Review of Christian Ritual and the World of Shakespeare's Tragedies by Herbert R. Coursen, Jr. " Shakespeare Studies 12: 300.
  • "Book Review of Shakespeare and the Bible by Steven Marx " Notes & Queries 48 : 58.

Reviews of Shaheen's Books

  • Keenan, Hugh T. "Book Review of Biblical References in 'The Faerie Queene" Library Journal 102 : 812.
  • Schell, Richard. "Book Review of Biblical References in 'The Faerie Queene" Spenser Newsletter 8 : 11-12.
  • Lewis, Cynthia. "Book Review of Biblical References in Shakespeare's Tragedies" Shakespeare Quarterly 40 : 108-111.
  • Dollard, Peter. "Book Review of Biblical References in Shakespeare's Comedies" Library Journal 118 : 70.
  • Evans, Robert C. "Book Review of Biblical References in Shakespeare's Comedies" Sixteenth Century Journal 25 : 707.
  • Stritmatter, Roger. "Book Review of Biblical References in Shakespeare’s Comedies" Elizabethan Review 3.
  • Nichols, Heidi L. "Book Review of Biblical References in Shakespeare's Plays" Sixteenth Century Journal 31 : 290-292.
  • "Book Review of Biblical References in Shakespeare's Plays" Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies 19 : 203.
  • Curren-Aquino, Deborah T. "Book Review of Biblical References in Shakespeare's Plays" Shakespeare Quarterly Spring 2001, Vol. 52 : 148.
  • Beauregard, David. "Book Review of Biblical References in Shakespeare's Plays" Religion & the Arts Sep 2001, Vol. 5 : 317-330.