Shakespeare In Love
Prologue
Shakespeare loved the Catholic Church dearly. He dedicated his life and canon to the mission of preaching the truth to the English masses denied the Catholic mass. In play after play there is a play-within-a-play as Shakespeare tackles social issues, handles church teachings, and teaches his countrymen what it means to be English and Catholic.
Their fathers were Catholic, their fathers before them, going all the way back to the time of Christ where legends arose that those who cared for Christ’s body at the cross brought the body of Christ to this majestic island, this demi-paradise, this beautiful island in the far reaches of the Roman Empire and a world away from the politics taking place in the Mediterranean town called the City of Peace. Shakespeare’s mission was to remind his island nation of their Ancestral Religion.
And so, here we offer a Catholic reading of Shakespeare’s canon, building on the same methods Catholics use to interpret the Old Testament in the light of Christ by revealing how to interpret Shakespeare.
If this were the cause of fanciful interpretations of whimsical and isolated passages out of context, this effort would be foolish. But this is not.
Here we offer brief summaries of Catholic themes underpinning Shakespeare’s canon of plays, specifically focusing on his Comedies & Tragedies. The reader will see how applying the Church’s teaching on scriptural interpretation of sacred stories we will unlock an allegorical meaning to Shakespeare’s audiences that will wow play goers, encourage the faithful, and help Englishmen and Americans uncover new insights into the beauty and mission of Christ’s holy Church.
And while today this is a work in progress, one day we hope to finish. Till then, we continue working, and check out Substack for our latest ones.