Dr. White continues his first session on Macbeth with a discussion of how the characters are seemingly living in the future as the action of the play unfolds. Interspersing his commentary with well-practiced readings, Dr. White explores man’s role as the preserver of moral order, and how that role is blurred as it is surrendered to Lady Macbeth. Then he proceeds to dissect the actions and motivations of the play’s characters.
In this first part of his second session on Macbeth, Dr. White discusses the legends and myths that have surrounded the play throughout the theater world. To many, Macbeth was not just a Scottish tragedy but a curse. White admits to not teaching this play as often as the other Shakespeare tragedies because of it darkness and association with evil. Then he segues into the “poetry” of the play and a detailed explanation of the meter of its most famous passage.
Concluding Part Two of his commentary on Macbeth, Dr. White continues his discussion of the poetic meter of the play’s most famous passage: “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow…” He describes it as a perfect example of meaning and sound coming together in a literary work and attributes it to Shakespeare’s genius; and makes reference to the same device being used in other of the poet’s plays such as Hamlet and Anthony and Cleopatra. An amazing exhibition, White says, coming from a writer with only an eighth-grade education.
This masterful exposition by Dr. White of The Merchant of Venice, one of Shakespeare’s most controversial comedies, shows the deep truths and lessons to be found in the three caskets of gold, silver, and lead which decide Portia’s husband; and the significant personalities of the men who choose each one. Dr. White shows that Portia’s father was not cruel in imposing this test on his daughter’s suitors, but, on the contrary, very wise indeed. Also covered is Shakespeare’s masterful weaving together of a total of three different, intertwining plots along with useful commentary on the nature of comedy itself. Dr. White discusses the stark differences between Shakespeare’s money-centered Venice and the music-filled fairytale of Belmont, where Portia resides, emphasizing that the women and men are unhappy because they are separated, and are meant to be together in families and society.
In the character of Portia, Dr. White discerns a beautiful example of Catholic femininity. He discusses how Portia takes on the role of intercessor and peacemaker between the conflicting characters of the play, the theme of risking all for a beloved continued in her daring disguise and intervention in Antonio’s court case. Dr. White extends this theme to the deep friendship between Antonio and Bassiano, a friendship which makes Antonio willing even to die for his friend. Portia’s justly famous speech on “the quality of mercy” is explained clearly and in detail, and the third plot of Portia’s ring analyzed. Dr. White ends this lecture on the Christian comedy of The Merchant of Venice by tying it into to the spiritual world of a Christian, viewing the play’s ending as a vision of the Biblical Marriage Feast of Cana. His insight and clear explanation of the themes and elements of The Merchant of Venice are invaluable to a proper understanding and appreciation of Shakespeare’s genius.
In “The False Tragedy of Shylock” the modern view of Shylock as a tragic hero is skillfully refuted and Shylock’s character and fate examined. Dr. White explains the play’s themes of the Old Testament idea of justice vs. the Christian idea of mercy and tackles the difficult subjects of usury and anti-Semitism fairly and from a truly Catholic viewpoint. He shows that Shylock, while not a good character, is not a two-dimensional, stereotypical scoundrel, but a rounded, lifelike villain with emotions and affections. Dr. White shows how deep his hate for Antonio runs, how the basis of his conflict is the bare fact of his being an outsider, not specifically that he is a Jew, and how he brings his fate upon himself by his demand for justice.
