Dr. White begins the fourth of his Broadstairs series on Eliot with a recapitulation of the main themes of the preceding lectures and considers additional key episodes in Eliot’s life, such as his conversion and its relationship with his becoming an English citizen. He considers Eliot’s love of Shakespeare’s Pericles and the formers’s Marina, named after the daughter and the reunion from arguably the greatest reunion scene in all of literature. Discussing Ash Wednesday, Dr. White suggests that Eliot begins to firmly grasp essential truths, and notes the solitary life Eliot lead after the point at which the consensus was reached that his wife should go into an institution.
Dr. White also explores the return of Eliot’s “first love” – the stage, and examines the choruses in The Rock and discusses Murder in the Cathedral, in fact commissioned by Canterbury. The latter work is compared with Waiting for Godot, which is also about waiting (and the writers of both plays loved and were immersed in Dante), transmuted into patient suffering under a divine pattern whereunder souls play a part. Finally, the doctor explains the four temptations present in Murder in the Cathedral – sensuality, which gives a false joy; it is the temptation of youth, which Becket rejects. The second is the temptation to make peace with the state and acquiesce. The third is the revolt against tradition, and the fourth – which Thomas admits is unexpected – is pride: “Be a martyr!” Dr. White also notes the unique interaction of the play’s actors with their audience – which sees the four 4 murderous knights presenting their case to their auditors. The play concludes with a beautiful hymn to the martyrs with a Te Deum in the background.
Dr. White concludes his discussion of A Midsummer Night’s Dream with an in-depth examination of reality versus illusion. He stresses the idea that the play teaches that there is more to reality than what we perceive. To demonstrate he describes the unreality of movies, which are by their nature unreal, using The Truman Show as an example. Film is an image, i.e., not real; that which occurs on a stage is real. He warns of the unreality of our lives but proclaims that out of great evil God will bring great good.
Dr. White opens this discussion of Shakespeare’s As You Like It with a quick review of the filmed versions of the play. Then he characterizes it as a romantic comedy that is Catholic in a profound way in that it portrays conflict and envy between individuals and society but ends with compromise and renewal. As You Like It, according to White, represents a notion of free will and he describes it as a simple pastoral comedy in a woodsy setting. Spiced by dramatic readings, Dr. White explains the characters in some detail before opening his presentation to questions from his audience.
Here Dr. White introduces the concept of comedy, with a special emphasis on what are known as Shakespeare’s three golden comedies: Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, and Twelfth Night. It is White’s premise that Shakespeare’s career as a playwright parallels the Mysteries of the Rosary, further solidifying the professor’s contention that the poet was, indeed, a Catholic. Comedy, in White’s view, pits the individual against society wherein the conflict is resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. This play, according to Dr. White, is about maintaining social order.
In this, part two of Dr. White’s commentary on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, he outlines the plot: built around eavesdropping and gossiping. It is a comedy, according to White, which contains two of the greatest comic scenes ever written. Interspersed with selected readings, Dr. White emphasizes the huge importance of words, and how language in this play is used as weaponry. It is what White calls a “serious” comedy. And he points out how the play evokes the image of the Virgin Mary, the model for all women; and he describes the parallels between this Shakespeare work and Dante’s Divine Comedy.
The Winter’s Tale is rich in messages to the Catholic audiences of Shakespeare’s time, but did not threaten his role as a public playwright in the company of the king, James I. Shakespeare was forced to do two things simultaneously throughout his career: remain a loyal subject, and write Catholic plays. The Winter’s Tale contains coded messages that gave hope to Catholics who suffered persecution. The king accuses his wife of infidelity and condemns the accused father to death. The king’s loyal servant, Camillo, warns the accused father and together they flee to Bohemia. Bohemia, at that time offered refuge to Catholics fleeing persecution. Pope Paul V (1605–1621) was born Camillo Borghese and was the reigning pope at the time of the production of this play. This is code but it is obvious. Camillo is the good servant working behind the scenes. This play is saying indirectly that the pope is in charge, trust him, he is doing what he can. Paulina, who defends the innocence of the queen, is based on Maudlin Brown who spoke out in defense of the Faith. The conflict at the start of the play concludes with reunion of all those who were separated.
