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As did St. Paul, Master Shakespeare used his skill and vast knowledge, to portray the events which had overcome his home, “This royal throne of kings, this sceptered isle, this earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, this other Eden, demi-paradise, this fortress built by Nature for herself against infection and the hand of war, this happy breed of men, this little world, this precious stone set in the silver sea, which serves it in the office of a wall, or as a moat defensive to a house, against the envy of less happier lands, this plot, this earth, this realm, this England.” All this had been lost to Christ for decades by the time of Shakespeare’s birth. But he never forgot the true England, and never loved her less.
My reflections on the plays of Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice, Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet, are read, I stress read, according to their association with prior literary and philosophical works. I take, as I believe Shakespeare did, the admonition of St. Paul. To the Greeks and to the barbarians, to the wise and to the unwise, I am a debtor, so (as much as is in me) I am ready to preach the gospel to you also that are at Rome.
Master Shakespeare took lines, characters, plot points, philosophies, from the pagan, the Church of Christ, the one true Catholic Church, and from her opponents through fifteen hundred years. He enveloped within himself, with the aid, of, if I may judge him fairly, an angel, to know, not only know but understand over a thousand or more works, which he distilled into thirty five plays. I have found up to fifteen or sixteen of these works, in one play, but I do not claim I have more than scratched the surface. Who would have knowledge to understand such a master? Certainly not I.
From twenty or thirty lines referred to from short stories, as many as a hundred or more lines from greater works, such as the Divine Comedy, or the Catechism of the Council of Trent. The Bible is quoted liberally, as is the Missal for the Mass. Nothing in the plays makes sense without consulting the Mass for the day mentioned in the play. Names come from many of the works, often several for each character. The great work of Jacobo Voragine, the Golden Legend, explains many questions. Without understanding the trials of the saints, much is opaque, to anyone who refuses to consult this work.
Just as the Mass is said to honor the Name of God, so names are a central part of identifying who the characters in the plays are. Hamlet, is an anagram of Luther minus two letters. Elsinore is an anagram of Eisleben, Luther’s home, minus two letters. Did Master Shakespeare choose this, because snake and satan match one another through the same method? There are tens, in the plays I’ve studied, possibly hundreds in all the plays. Each play is an enigma, because they were written under the constant gaze of the censor, but a censor, who had not been allowed to read any work pertaining to Christ. So Master Shakespeare could almost play his games safely.
Read the plays before you read the books. I hope you find the works as fascinating as I do.
Robert L. Hunt
