Continuing the discussion of the Four Quartets, Dr. White examines the fourth part of each as lyric poems dealing in large part with Our Lord, Our Lady, and the Holy Ghost. In these poems the mystery of time and eternity is reconciled. The doctor also asserts and defends the claims that Little Gidding is the best lyric poem of the 20th century. Furthermore, the themes that Eliot explored in his earlier Wasteland – suffering, death, time, the first and last things, sacrifice and love – are resolved by way of an exploration of the effective identity, the necessary confluence & connection, of the tensions – issuing forth in redemption.
The doctor also notes that between 1942 and 1954 Eliot published no poetry and instead turned his attention to drama in an effort to find language that comports with how the language is currently used. In this connection Eliot’s Cocktail Party is explored along with aspects of his prose. Among the topics discusser are Eliot’s appreciation of the insanity and self-contradictory nature of literature, the newly created 3-beat line in Cocktail Party, with its allusions and samplings from light-hearted English comedy (e.g., Wilde, Noel Coward). It includes, Dr. White also argues, one of the greatest speeches of all drama. The idea of Eliot, he says, was to attract and captivate his audience with rhythm by giving them easy poetry habitually – and then, by contrast, rewarding them with verse more properly so called. Finally the Elder Statesman (1957), Eliot’s last play, is also considered, containing themes relating the cleansing of the conscience, the reappearance of figures wronged in his life, and his concern that honors were falsely earned and undeserved. “Fixed in the certainty of love unchanging” – the play uses the word “love” more than any other of his works. Finally, the Cultivation of Christmas Trees (1957) is considered, along with the end of Eliot’s life where he recaptures joy and marries very late – which brought him a great measure of happiness after much misery earlier in life.
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.
In part one of Dr. White’s commentary on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, he points out that this particular comedy makes obvious references to the 12 days of Christmas, with the “twelfth night” as the end of festivities. And the plot of the play is also connected to the Feast of the Epiphany, i.e., seeing the truth where others fail to see it. This play contains a host of strong-willed characters and numerous cases of mistaken identity wherein they are unable to see the truth about themselves. It’s a play that reminds us we are human. A great comedy, according to Dr. White, but one sprinkled with sorrow and sadness.
T.S. Eliot changed the face of poetry with Four Quartets, his four-part poem based on musical string quartets that features four instruments. The four instruments in the musical version are replaced with four voices in the poem. The Quartets deal with: air, earth, water and finally fire. The poems are based on his life’s experiences. The final quartet is about Pentecost, when the Holy Ghost appeared as fire from the sky to inflame the Apostles and Our Lady with the full enlightenment of Christ’s life and message. Modern man is in his many sins is punished by fire in the form of aerial incendiary bombs that fell over London during WWII, which Eliot personally witnessed. He reasons that we will be redeemed by the fire of suffering given to us by God in this life to avoid the suffering of fire in the next. Receive the fire of the Holy Ghost and burn with love of God. Suffering is redemptive. The fourth Quartet is a hidden sonnet: seven lines and seven lines instead of the usual 14. Sonnets are always love poems, thus this too is a love poem. Four Quartets is considered the greatest lyric poem of the twentieth century.
