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.
Part One of Dr. White’s two-part examination of Shakespeare’s classic comedy, The Taming of the Shrew.Dr. White gives a classical definition of comedy which reminds us of our human nature, that we are but flesh and blood, and as a consequence keeps us humble. In this comedy we see the tensions between men and women – the “battle of the sexes.” The lecture also analyzes the character of Katerina and Petruchio who represent pure will and pure ego respectively.
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.
Flannery O’Connor’s “Revelation” is, according to Dr. White, not just a great Catholic story but a great piece of literature. He likens it to old fashioned Catholic art, i.e., stories taken from scripture and presented in dramatic form. Interspersed with his impassioned readings, Revelation is what Dr. White considers to be to be a Catholic truth; derived from the Gospel of St. Luke, presented directly and openly; and the first representation of purgatory in literature since Dante.
This last part of the brilliant conference on Moby Dick begins with a continuation of the discourse on materialism in the American way of life. Dr. White discusses how materialism stunts personality and how, in our culture, even rebels against the bland comfort of common life all rebel the exact same way. The point is made that true, healthy diversity and individualism can come only from the Catholic Faith. Dr. White then makes a thorough investigation of the Calvinistic conception of God against which Melville protests in Moby Dick through the character of Captain Ahab. He shows that Ahab’s fury against this Calvinist God is justified, going through three aspects of the Calvinist religion which alienate men from God. The natural responses to this alienation, worship of nature and destruction of nature, are then discussed and Captain Ahab’s adherence to the latter response analyzed. Dr. White explains the nature of Ahab’s madness; he has a “great madness,” stemming from a very legitimate cause. The end of the novel and of the lecture is reached as Dr. White discusses Ahab’s last words and the death of him and his crew.
The sequence of Shakespeare’s plays falls into three categories that perfectly parallel the three mysteries of the rosary. From joy to sorrow to glory. His early plays are full of the joy of youth and discovery (Comedy of Errors, Taming of the Shrew.) Then his great tragedies of evil and doubt (Hamlet, King Lear, Othello.) Finally, his romance plays (Pericles, Cymbeline, The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale) tell of virtue, perseverance, reunion, resurrection. The romantic plays, like the Glorious Mysteries, are about rising or falling: Christ rises from the dead, rises into Heaven, the Holy Ghost descends, Our Lady rises. The mystery concludes with her coronation as Queen of all creation, the combination of the natural and the supernatural. The romance plays are filled with good women who suffer. They remain unsullied, unmoving, uncomplaining. They persevere until the end. Romantic plays have three main characteristics: First, character gives way to action, that is, an evil person will do evil. Next, numerous plots throughout the play, much like real life. Finally, the handling of time in that these actions take place over many years and are condensed into the constraints of the production of the play. Our crosses in life will end in glory.
