Here Dr. White discusses the second and third plays of The Oresteia. He explains that The Libation Bearers, the second play in the trilogy, is named for the chorus. It is a play about the power of the past, and how the living have obligations to the dead. Again it is a play about revenge though it begins and ends with a prayer. The third play in the trilogy, Eumenides, Dr. white tells us, features an enormous conflict between the gods, essentially turning the play into a courtroom drama, the outcome of which is ultimately judged by the goddess Athena.
Before his introduction to comedy, Dr. White declares A Midsummer Night’s Dream to be one of the few perfect works of art, and that it is comedy with a serious core. He then delves into the nature of comedy: a structure of action leading to delight, renewal, and re-invigoration. He goes on to describe the Greek satyr play, the beginning of comedy; and he discusses the history of “old comedy” originating in Greece and the “new comedy” (romantic comedy) that came from Rome. Dr. White says comedy brings us down to earth and that it must be true.
Here Dr. White begins his detailed analysis of the groups of lovers in A Midsummer Night’s Dream by describing the different poetic forms in which Shakespeare has them speak, i,e., iambic pentameter, rhymed couplet, prose, etc. It is, he says, a play about weddings, with recurrent themes such as the moon and dreams. White points out the absurdity of young lovers who go to extremes to break the law, and he sites ones of Shakespeare’s most famous lines, “The course of true love never did run smooth.”
Dr. White continues his detailed analysis of the interaction between the lovers in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Now he concentrates on the group known as the mechanicals, as they prepare to put on a play within the play. It is farce, burlesque, even slapstick, as Shakespeare makes loving fun of these characters. Dr. White reveals how they have no imagination, which he proclaims to be the meeting ground between love and art; and he goes on to explore the theme of the real play, i.e., that love is irrational. But that Shakespeare sees unity in the human condition.
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.
