Dr. White begins his commentary, “The Life of Evelyn Waugh,” with an exploration of the author’s background. Drawn on varied aspects of Waugh’s life this background formed the inspiration for Brideshead Revisited. The novel reveals that Waugh was in fact an apologist for the Catholic faith, albeit well aware of his own human failings. And his experiences during his years at Oxford also seep through the pages of the book. White goes on to explore Waugh’s life during the Roaring 20s, a time when the author ran with what was known as “the smart set.”
Fyodor Dostoyevsky is a Russian novelist who lived and wrote in the latter half of the nineteenth century. He is considered by many to be the greatest writer since Shakespeare who has a profound understanding of human beings. Dostoyevsky was immersed in the modern world and gives a depiction of a world of modern horrors. His work is extremely dark. He could see the coming Russian revolution a half a century before it occurred, with its millions of victims. He was obsessed with the irrational actions of man. Raised in a religious home that studied the Bible and knew the lives of the saints, he later left the faith and became a socialist and atheist. He was, as he says, a product of the times. Arrested for being a revolutionary he was sentenced to death, sent to Siberia, placed in front of a firing squat, black sack over his head, ready to die. The guns never fired. The men had received a reprieve from the Czar. He returned to the Faith, changed his political views from revolutionary against the state to revolutionary Christ and the truth. His last five novels deal with human nature at its best and its worst.
The role of good literature is to teach life lessons without having to live those lessons. The story of Othello is one of those lessons. In the final Act, the deadly deeds are done. Othello, now convinced that he is god-like takes his wife’s life to prevent her from sinning again. His delusion has reached its logical summit. Once the fact of her innocence is revealed to him, he understands he has committed murder, and can no longer look upon her beautiful corpse. He now fears Judgment Day, not because of what he has done, but because he fears her look of pure innocence upon him. This will be his torment, and he cannot endure it. He calls for demons to take him away. He acknowledges his crime. He deserves punishment. He learns the lesson too late. She is gone. He is dammed. In his final moments, he regains composure, becomes a soldier again. He is a divided man. Once the defender of justice, he became the offender of justice. He has no home in Cyprus, no home in Venice, no home in his native land. He takes a dagger, stabs himself, and dies with a kiss on Desdemona.
This last part of Dr. White’s conference on David Copperfield opens with a discussion of an episode at David’s school which emphasizes the importance of boys’ early friendships and how David chooses a bad model in Steerforth, who defies his teacher and leads the boys in rebellion. The other possible friend for David, Traddles, is presented by Dr. White as an important character by reason of his normality and decency. Dickens’ talent for foreshadowing is again touched upon, then Dr. White explains the duality running through the novel: David very often much choose between two people, and he always seems to choose the wrong one. Dr. White presents Uriah Heep as David’s “dark side,” and shows the influence of Scripture on Dickens. He treats of the meaning of marriage as illustrated by David’s rather foolish first marriage, and presents a central theme of the novel springing from this and other situations throughout the book: that one’s emotions must be educated and disciplined if one is to be happy. The lecture ends appropriately with a discussion of the ending of the book.
At the heart of Act Three is Othello doing all of the work to create the illusions of deception. He only needs subtle hints from Iago. Othello does all the rest, driving himself to madness. The audience witnesses the events, but it is the interpretation of these events that causes the trouble. Iago forces Othello to see what Iago wants him to see. This is a warning that throughout life we are constantly viewing the world through interpretation. We must be certain of our guides, our sources. And the only source of order and proper interpretation in life is in the setting of a patriarchy to teach us the truth. Othello is the story of order dissolving into disorder. The proper place for Desdemona is in the home. She is at a battlefield. Disorder. Othello’s suspicion of her infidelity causes him to give up the battle. Why? She has no virtue, hence, nothing to defend. More disorder. At the heart of civilization is the virtuous woman. Through her virtue she can rule over her realm, the home. Her virtue gives men the reason to defend, the home, and if necessary, the country. The realm of the man is outside the home, defending the home.
Dr. White discusses sentimentality and its characteristics, explaining that it focuses on emotions and wallows in them for their own sake, and pointing out that true artistry allows one to respond on one’s own, without manipulation. Dickens’ work was touched by sentimentality, he explains, particularly in some of his death scenes. Dr. White discusses some of the episodes of his own life that Dickens put into this work, which was partly autobiographical. David’s influences and hero-figures are examined with their respective influences upon him. Dr. White also gives some time to the character of Mr. Micawber, whom he ranks as one of the three great comic characters of literature. Finally, Dr. White touches upon the effect that Dickens had in changing child labor laws and school conditions, the state of which he dramatized in his novels, thus raising awareness of them.
