Prelude
Let all Americans study the life and plays of Shakespeare because the society that produced William Shakespeare produced America. A totalitarian government sent men seeking liberty by creating new worlds – whether in the theatrical imaginings of our minds or in the paradise across the sea called “America.” These brave new worlds spoke of the beautiful potential of mankind.
Moreover, let all Christians study Shakespeare, he is among the first generation born after the Protestant-rending of Christendom, his life rooted close enough to ancient Catholicism to be a valuable historian while also still firmly planted in a brave new world that provides great insight into future revolutions, reformations, and upheavals.
Lastly, let all Catholics study Shakespeare, this great hero produced the greatest canon of Catholic literature since the New Testament was penned in the streets and jails of the Roman Empire. Not since the first century, when rebel leaders took the good news of peace throughout the known world, has a canon of writings done more to battle evil, fight sin, defeat tyrants, expose devils, and conquer death. Let Shakespeare teach us how neither sin nor death dominate, the covering cast over all peoples is torn, and eternal life bursts into our brave new world. How beauteous Shakespeare is!
“If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart,
Absent thee from felicity awhile
And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain
To tell my story.”