Much Ado About Something
why my college begins in the middle of August, I don't know, but last week was the first week of school and I'm buried. I'm working on a longer article on the Sacraments, but it will be a while before I post it.
I did see Much Ado About Nothing (an old fave of Scooter's and mine) at the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare festival last night. Shakespeare right on the lake, with the moon setting behind the stage. It's stunningly beautiful there. And the play made me think of many things: one is how much Shakespeare draws on Christian mythos. Of course he was writing in a Christian culture and there are overt references to God (serve God, love me, and mend) throughout. But on a deeper level...Hero is resurrected as a bride, her shame removed forever; Claudio gives up all his rights as a man by agreeing to marry a stranger he does not know is the woman he loves (echoes of the old story where the knight is offered the choice: do you want your new witch-wife to be beautiful by day or night, while she is hag the rest of the time. The right answer is 'you choose'; knight gets 24 hour beauty).
This willingness on Claudio's part to forfeit his own desire and his subsequent reward at the request of the father he has wronged feels very Christian ('thy will be done'). The reconciliation of Benedick to Claudio once all the truth is known is likewise beautiful and resonates of the peace described in Isaiah. This all reminds me of what Lewis, writing about Tolkien, called the eucastrophe: instead of disaster, the amazing happens; the ring is destroyed and the captains of middle earth 'gathered in a foundering sea,' survive. Instead of Claudio mourning the death of a woman he has unwittingly wronged, he lifts her veil to find her very much alive, a 'second Hero,' I think it said. This kind of absolution and removal of consequence: it touches us as deep as anything can. It is the resurrection of the dead. And Shakespeare knew it, or so I imagine. A true critical article in this direction would have to look much closer at the play, at sources Shakespeare used, etc. Still, aware of it or not, he presented a play full of Christian hope.
Benedick and Beatrice have their character flaws, their enraged fears of intimacy, removed and fall in love, or realize they are in love, because they believe the other loves them. Perfect love casts out fear. We love him because he first loved us. What happens to them is against the part of their wills that is destructive to their needs, yet in compliance with their innermost desires and genuine needs; and their change in attitude towards each other brings them into life.
If I had more time, I'd do a more pro job on this, but I don't have the time. Three online classes call! This be quickie blog. Hammered out from the frontlines of the Sierra Nevada. Be well all.
t
I did see Much Ado About Nothing (an old fave of Scooter's and mine) at the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare festival last night. Shakespeare right on the lake, with the moon setting behind the stage. It's stunningly beautiful there. And the play made me think of many things: one is how much Shakespeare draws on Christian mythos. Of course he was writing in a Christian culture and there are overt references to God (serve God, love me, and mend) throughout. But on a deeper level...Hero is resurrected as a bride, her shame removed forever; Claudio gives up all his rights as a man by agreeing to marry a stranger he does not know is the woman he loves (echoes of the old story where the knight is offered the choice: do you want your new witch-wife to be beautiful by day or night, while she is hag the rest of the time. The right answer is 'you choose'; knight gets 24 hour beauty).
This willingness on Claudio's part to forfeit his own desire and his subsequent reward at the request of the father he has wronged feels very Christian ('thy will be done'). The reconciliation of Benedick to Claudio once all the truth is known is likewise beautiful and resonates of the peace described in Isaiah. This all reminds me of what Lewis, writing about Tolkien, called the eucastrophe: instead of disaster, the amazing happens; the ring is destroyed and the captains of middle earth 'gathered in a foundering sea,' survive. Instead of Claudio mourning the death of a woman he has unwittingly wronged, he lifts her veil to find her very much alive, a 'second Hero,' I think it said. This kind of absolution and removal of consequence: it touches us as deep as anything can. It is the resurrection of the dead. And Shakespeare knew it, or so I imagine. A true critical article in this direction would have to look much closer at the play, at sources Shakespeare used, etc. Still, aware of it or not, he presented a play full of Christian hope.
Benedick and Beatrice have their character flaws, their enraged fears of intimacy, removed and fall in love, or realize they are in love, because they believe the other loves them. Perfect love casts out fear. We love him because he first loved us. What happens to them is against the part of their wills that is destructive to their needs, yet in compliance with their innermost desires and genuine needs; and their change in attitude towards each other brings them into life.
If I had more time, I'd do a more pro job on this, but I don't have the time. Three online classes call! This be quickie blog. Hammered out from the frontlines of the Sierra Nevada. Be well all.
t
Comments
Good to hear from you. I sympathize with your hurried schedule. I've got two weeks to go and already I'm swamped with dept. chair stuff. I'm looking forward to the post on the Sacraments. Peace.