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’s second installment in his series of four comprehensive presentations on Shakespeare’s English history plays. This conference delves into the world of Henry IV, a historical comedy that affords a background glimpse into the life of Prince Hal, who will be the main character in Henry V. According to Dr. White’s account, the play unfolds simultaneously in three different settings: the court, the tavern, and the battlefield; and each one is dominated by a different character. Hal’s presence in each setting weaves the disparate dramatic backdrops together, and he learns vital lessons in each. Also discussed substantively is the nature and role of Falstaff, Henry’s bawdy and ultimately tragic companion.
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.
Described by Dr. White as an elegy – both a paean and lament directed towards a dying and passing world – this second of Shakespeare’s plays on Henry IV features the recurring themes of death, disease, and corruption. Again, Hal (the future Henry V) takes center stage, with a view towards his eventual role in the final of the Henry plays. In this extensive conference, Dr. White addresses, along with making many other insightful and passing observations, the perplexing prologue offered by an allegorical character; a climactic battle which never occurs; themes of frustration and disappointment (consonant with the overall focus of the play); and, as in the play’s predecessor, Henry IV, Part 1, the person and wit of the inimitable Falstaff.
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.
Dr. explains the logic and anti-modernism of Kate’s final speech in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.Dr. White simply observes the real differences in nature between men and women. He then provides some real life examples of the difficult traditional Catholic women have in finding a good Catholic man. Women, in their nature, seek to find a man who will first pay attention to her. He then goes into Act V, Scene 2 and analyzes Kate’s final speech which brings forth the concept of hierarchy, and the consequences of not following God’s order. Dr. White then gives a brilliant description of feminism and how at its root it is a rebellion against divine order rooted in nature. What these women end up doing is making bad parodies of men.
