Dr. White’s deep love of Emily Dickinson is apparent in the very beginning of this lecture as he contrasts her humility and “littleness” with contemporary poet Walt Whitman’s overwhelming ego and sweeping lines. He covers the poet’s family as depicted in her letters, her isolation, the sheer volume of her poetry, and the harsh criticism she received from the publisher to which she submitted some of her poems. Dr. White explains and analyses several of her poems, both the popular and the little-known, including “Success is Counted Sweetest” and “I’m Nobody, Who Are You?.” The originality and peculiarities of her style, such as her use of dashes, unusual capitalization, and off rhymes, are pointed out and discussed. Finally, Dr. White speaks of the two gentleman whom she was close to and wrote to frequently, though her relationship with both progressed no further than exchanging letters.
In this lecture, Dr. White examines Shakespeare’s early comedy Love’s Labour’s Lost, unique because it does not give the ending expected of a comedy. The significance of language in the play is explained, with Dr. White demonstrating its obsession with language’s power and noting that the art of speaking is practically disappearing in the modern world. The beginning conflict between intellectualism and love is explained, but it is shown that the young men are doing it for the wrong reasons, simply in order to gain fame. Dr. White shows the contrast between women and men in the play: the women are sensible and practical, while the men are idealistic and rather foolish. He touches on the innocence and wisdom of Shakespeare’s women, and how these qualities make them hard to depict on modern stages. Finally, he explains how certain characters like Don Adriano de Armado are overdrawn to show what the rest of them could become if they do not reform themselves.
Dr. White refutes the the charges made against Emily Dickinson in recent years that she was a manic-depressive with deep mental issues, explaining that she simply knew the extremes of joy and sorrow and expressed them in her poetry and that she could never have kept house for her father so efficiently if she had had severe psychological issues. The inspiration of her verse from Protestant hymns, nursery rhymes, and folk songs is demonstrated, and specific poems read and analyzed, including “Hope is the Thing with Feathers” and “I Taste a Liquor Never Brewed.” Dr. White demonstrates Dickinson’s grasp of nature’s place and criticism of the transcendentalism popular in her time, and discusses her struggle with religion as evident in the religious poetry that she wrote. Finally, he examines her attitude towards death and analyzes her famous poem “Because I Could Not Stop for Death.” These lectures are a beautiful tribute to one of America’s greatest and most humble poets.
Dr. White discusses the importance of charity as illustrated by the characters in Love’s Labour’s Lost, who show that love without charity is simply love of oneself and that intellect without charity is simply pedantry. The characters are all self-centered, and Dr. White points out that they fall in love with the women simply because they are women, not even being able to identify them except by the things they have given them. Dr. White examines the unkindness of their mocking and jokes, and notes that they do not at first learn their lesson – the play takes a somewhat bitter turn, and they are separated from the ladies and made to wait until they have become worthy suitors. Dr. White explains how, in this way, the play can be seen as a Lenten play, for the young men must do penance and undergo trials before they can come to joy, just as during Lent one must mortify oneself before one can be worthy to come to the great joy and celebration of Easter.
The conference starts with a discussion of Herman Melville’s personal life and how it influenced his work, especially his religious background. Dr. White explores the central conflict between man and nature and then gives a sketch of the history, evolution, and place in literature of novels as a genre, demonstrating how Moby Dick, in its excruciating length and minute detail, takes the reader right into its world and onto the deck of the whaling ship, enduring with the crew the long periods of inaction between whale sightings. Dr. White goes on to begin examining the novel’s portrayal of the characteristics of the American people. These characteristics, uncomfortable to discover because they are so true, include especially America’s national anti-social dispositions. Dr. White ends this segment with a discussion of Melville’s spot-on presentation of the American attitude of shallowness and isolation towards religion.
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy about eavesdropping and gossip and the personal and social damage it causes. The word “nothing” is a play on words. In Elizabethan times it referred to eavesdropping, hence, Much Ado About Eavesdropping. The complexity of the conflict comes about through eavesdropping and is resolved through eavesdropping. All drama is founded in conflict: ideas, wills, personalities. This comedy is social in nature: the will of the individual verses the norms of society. Will the individual tear society apart, or will society become so overbearing as to destroy the individual. Comedy teaches that we can have it all; there is compromise. The symbol of this compromise is a happy marriage. Marriage suggests society gets submission to the social order and the individual gets their beloved, produces children and the social order continues. Everyone wins. At the heart of this play is the critical issue of manliness. The virtue of a good woman can compel men to take their proper role to defend women, family, society. Good, virtuous women civilize men. It is her true power in the world; it is at the heart of civilization. And the perfect model for the virtuous woman is Our Lady.
