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The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 16.1987  Thursday, 1 December 2005

[1] 	From: 	Jim Blackie <classicfilmbuff@yahoo.com>
	Date: 	Wednesday, 30 Nov 2005 09:51:17 -0800 (PST)
	Subj: 	Re: SHK 16.1972 Shadowplay

[2] 	From: 	Debra Murphy <dlmurphy601@comcast.net>
	Date: 	Wednesday, 30 Nov 2005 10:10:35 -0800
	Subj: 	RE: SHK 16.1972 Shadowplay


[1]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From: 		Jim Blackie <classicfilmbuff@yahoo.com>
Date: 		Wednesday, 30 Nov 2005 09:51:17 -0800 (PST)
Subject: 16.1972 Shadowplay
Comment: 	Re: SHK 16.1972 Shadowplay

Bravo, Bill Arnold!

And also in Hamlet- what are we to make of the references to purgatory? 
If Shakespeare's is strictly a Protestant view, there IS no such place, 
therefore the "ghost" would have to have been a demon from hell, no?

Jim Blackie

[2]-------------------------------------------------------------
From: 		Debra Murphy <dlmurphy601@comcast.net>
Date: 		Wednesday, 30 Nov 2005 10:10:35 -0800
Subject: 16.1972 Shadowplay
Comment: 	RE: SHK 16.1972 Shadowplay

I didn't know Sophie Masson was a SHAKSPERian!  Alas, we haven't really 
had a chance to get to know one another as yet.  But small world, 
n'est-ce pas?

Yes, "Godspy" is most definitely an allusion to Lear's speech to 
Cordelia.  In fact, Godspy published an article by Fr. Paul Murray, 
O.P., entitled "Shakespeare and the Mystery of Things": 
http://www.godspy.com/culture/Gods-Spy-Shakespeare-and-the-Mystery-of-Things.cfm 
.

And speaking of it being a "small world", when I first stumbled on 
Godspy a little less than two years ago, I, too, was struck initially by 
the title, which I figured could not possibly be an accident.  In fact, 
it was a bit of a Twilight Zone moment for me, as I was then about to 
publish a literary thriller (with plots and themes stolen liberally from 
Shakespeare and Spenser) entitled, yes, _The Mystery of Things_.  At any 
rate, I loved the magazine's mission statement and overall sensibility 
(aiming to look at the interface between faith and culture from a 
vantage-point that respects "mystery"), and submitted an article.  The 
editor liked it, and I've been writing for them ever since.  I loved the 
Asquith assignment in particular because it permitted me to indulge my 
passion for Shakespeare.  It also induced me to read further in a 
problem in Shakespeare biography (and Elizabethan history) with which I 
was only marginally familiar.

As for my own view, I am not scholar enough to argue the particulars of 
Asquith's case either way, except to say that I agree with her notion 
that a layer of topicality need not in any way detract from our 
appreciation of Shakespeare's universality.  Also, her theory for the 
reasons for Shakespeare's sudden retirement makes more sense to me than 
any I've read heretofore, and possibly her theory about his educational 
opportunities as well-both matters which have caused no end of scholarly 
feuding, as we all know, and been at the heart of a good deal of 
anti-Stratfordianism.  I was also intrigued by Asquith's suggestion that 
Shakespeare biography and criticism from a Protestant perspective has 
thus far been too parochial; has tended to ignore the possible influence 
of cultural developments (the Jesuit Drama of the Counter-Reformation, 
for instance) in the rest of Catholic Europe.

Fascinating business, whichever way you jump. And I enjoyed chatting 
with Mrs. Asquith immensely-a thoroughly engaging and thoughtful person.

Debra Murphy
www.bardolatry.com

_______________________________________________________________
S H A K S P E R: The Global Shakespeare Discussion List
Hardy M. Cook, editor@shaksper.net
The S H A K S P E R Web Site <http://www.shaksper.net>

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