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.
Dr. White continues his discussion of Moby Dick by beginning his analysis of Captain Ahab, whose entrance, he points out, ends the domestic comedy contained in the novel up to that point. He explores the character of Captain Ahab, from the Biblical origins of his name to his personality and his greatness as a tragic character, and touches on the conflict between Ahab and all of nature, even God Himself, as represented by the whale. Dr. White also discusses the picture of American characteristics that continues to be drawn in the novel, covering the conflicting loves of comfort and adventure, religious “toleration” where being “nice” and getting along are the cardinal virtues, and the obsession with money which springs from the excessive love of comfort. Some secondary characters in the book are discussed and their characters briefly examined, along with how and why such a diverse set of men, including an African, a Native American, and a Polynesian, manage to get along together.
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.
Our hero, Ivan Denisovich, is not an extraordinary man. He lives in the midst of a world where there is not enough to eat, in a world where you are dependent on the kindness of those around you, yet he feels no envy for the packages of food the others have received. It is a small thing, but an enormous thing. It is a basic decency that cannot be crushed out of some men. In the midst of the horror and darkness we get glimpses of not just man at his worst, but man at his best. Like the stars shining in the dark sky. This basic decency and dignity is everywhere in the novel. The Soviets could not crush it out. They tried. There is noting the state can do to crush out art, as art elevates. They tried. If you love life, then you can love life in the camps. This is life too. Whatever is going on in the bigger world is happening here too. This is not an entertaining book. It does educate. This novel teaches that there is something higher: have courage; speak the truth, and be willing to suffer no matter whatever God sends.
