Happy Birthday, Will.

[jayem]

Shakespeare was born 454 years ago today. One of my heroes.

"Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven."

--Henry VI

 

[brinny]

Aaah, i wasn't aware of that. Congratulations William Shakespeare, "Bard of Avon"!

 

[brinny]

And in memory of Mr. Shakespeare, a quote that happens to be one of my favorites.

Thank you Mr. Shakespeare.

 

[ripple the car]

Wasn't he a closet Catholic? I've heard that he was. At least potentially.

 

[brinny]

Wasn't he a closet Catholic? I've heard that he was. At least potentially.

That's a good question.

 

[ripple the car]

That's a good question.

Apparently in technically Anglican pews, there were a number of folks who went along with Anglicanism so as to avoid arrest, harassment, or improsonment, but privately they prayed and believed as Catholics, hid priests, and gathered in private. Evidence indicates that Shakespeare may have at least been sympathetic to Enligish Catholics, if not secretly one of them, himself.

 

[brinny]

Apparently in technically Anglican pews, there were a number of folks who went along with Anglicanism so as to avoid arrest, harassment, or improsonment, but privately they prayed and believed as Catholics, hid priests, and gathered in private. Evidence indicates that Shakespeare may have at least been sympathetic to Enligish Catholics, if not secretly one of them, himself.

Interesting. I can see the logic in it if there was a deathly risk of being a Catholic.

 

[ripple the car]

Interesting. I can see the logic in it if there was a deathly risk of being a Catholic.

It's a moment in Christian history little known about. I had heard of the persecution of Protestants by Catholics, but knew nothing of Protestant persecution of Catholics. It seems to have gone both ways.

 

[brinny]

It's a moment in Christian history little known about. I had heard of the persecution of Protestants by Catholics, but knew nothing of Protestant persecution of Catholics. It seems to have gone both ways.

I suspect that might be true. My knowledge of the history of both is very limited.

 

[grasping the after wind]

A bard worthy of great respect as a poet , playwright and observer of human character. I especially think he was spot on in the words he put in Casssius' mouth.

"I cannot tell what you and other men
Think of this life: but, for my single self,
I had as lief not be as live to be
In awe of such a thing as I myself

I was born free as Caesar; so were you:
We both have fed as well, and we can both
Endure the winter's cold as well as he. (1.2.97)


Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a Colossus; and we petty men
Walk under his huge legs, and peep about
To find ourselves dishonourable graves.
Men at some time are masters of their fates:
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings. (1.2.135)

When could they say, till now, that talked of Rome,
That her wide walls encompassed but one man?
Now is it Rome indeed and room enough,
When there is in it but one only man. (1.2.154)

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

To nitpick, technically Elizabethan England used the Julian calender, not the Gregorian. So his birthday is off by about 11 or so days.

 

[brinny]

To nitpick, technically Elizabethan England used the Julian calender, not the Gregorian. So his birthday is off by about 11 or so days.

Are you going to contact Wikipedia, or should i?

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

As to Shakespeare being a crypto-Catholic:

In its favour:
He wrote Falstaff as a satire of the Lollard Oldcastle, who was much revered in Protestant circles.
Many of his works have catholic elements, such as Hamlet's father in purgatory.
His family has some Catholic ties and he was possibly married by a vicar, who turned out to be a hidden priest.

Against it:
Certain plays are explicitly Protestant, such as Henry VIII.
He spent his entire life as a conformist Protestant and was never suspected of Catholic sympathies.
His will is phrased in a Protestant manner, even incorporating Protestant formulae like Sola Christus.
Some have read anti-Catholic sentiment in some of his sonnets, but it is not patently so.

So you can debate if you want. I think the Protestant stronger, and that he merely wrote from within the shared Catholic heritage of Christendom. There is certainly some merit to such allegations though, but they will always remain speculative.

 

[brinny]

As to Shakespeare being a crypto-Catholic:

In its favour:
He wrote Falstaff as a satire of the Lollard Oldcastle, who was much revered in Protestant circles.
Many of his works have catholic elements, such as Hamlet's father in purgatory.
His family has some Catholic ties and he was possibly married by a vicar, who turned out to be a hidden priest.

Against it:
Certain plays are explicitly Protestant, such as Henry VIII.
He spent his entire life as a conformist Protestant and was never suspected of Catholic sympathies.
His will is phrased in a Protestant manner, even incorporating Protestant formulae like Sola Christus.
Some have read anti-Catholic sentiment in some of his sonnets, but it is not patently so.

So you can debate if you want. I think the Protestant stronger, and that he merely wrote from within the shared Catholic heritage of Christendom. There is certainly some merit to such allegations though, but they will always remain speculative.

in the meantime i find his word-smith-ing quite brilliant.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Hamlet is one of my favorites. One of the greatest tales in Western literature..