INTRODUCTION As many critics have pointed out, Act 2 of Hamlet focuses on the efforts of both the “mighty opposites” – Hamlet and Claudius – to spy out the intentions and plans of the other. Thus begins the process of inserting various mediators between the two, all of whom end up dead – Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. This fencing takes place in a world of illusion, deceptive rhetoric, and playacting. Though the players do not appear until the end... Read more
Rikki Watts offers some other dimensions to the quotation from Mark 1:1. He notes that Mark is quoting not only from Isaiah 40, but also from Exodus 23 and Malachi 3, and shows how these three texts overlay each other in Mark’s presentation. Exodus 23 is a warning to Israel about the need to obey the “angel” or “messenger” of Yahweh who will lead them to the promised land, at which point Yahweh Himself will take over as the divine... Read more
Joseph Frank closes his review of two recent books on Maritain and early 20th century Catholicism with this charming scene: “Maritain returned for a last visit to the United States in 1966 to say farewell to old friends and to visit the grave of his sister-in-law Vera buried in Princeton. At the same time he went to see others, one of whom was the poet and monk Thomas Merton. The latter regaled him with recordings of Bob Dylan, ‘whom he... Read more
2 Kings 10:26-27: They brought the sacred pillars out of the temple of Baal and burned them. And the broke down the sacred pillar of Baal, and tore down the temple of Baal and made it a refuse dump to this day. One day, some people came to Jesus with a story about the brutality of Pilate: “There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.” Jesus did... Read more
2 Kings 10:16: And Jehu said, Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord. Jehu leads a bloody revolution that overthrows the house of Ahab. He kills Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah. He has Jezebel killed, and orders the decapitation of 70 sons of Ahab. He slaughters 42 members of the royal house of Judah, and arranges things so that the sacrificial celebration in the house of Baal ends in a bloodbath. (more…) Read more
As Jehu marched toward the capital city of Samaria, he encountered 42 men from the house of David. Jehu took them alive, killed them at a pit at a place called Beth-eked, and then continued on toward Samaria. This incident gives us pause. Jehu was anointed to be the avenger against the house of Ahab, the royal house of Israel. But these 42 men were members of a different royal house. Did Jehu overstep his bounds? Did Jehu get over-zealous... Read more
Derek Jacobi wrote a foreword for a new Oxfordian biography of Edward de Vere, suggesting that de Vere wrote the plays because the plays were written by an actor and de Vere was an actor. Say what? The TLS reviewer notes that Shakespeare, alone among all the suggested authors of the plays, was an actor. If the plays were written by an actor, then they were written by Will. Read more
John Dover Wilson puzzles over Hamlet, Act 3, where Claudius is apparently unaffected by the dumb show that re-enacts his murder of Hamlet, Sr. Dover Wilson concludes that Claudius must have been distracted during the dumb show, and missed it. Dramatically, that may work. Thematically, the inefficacy of the dumb show prepares for the efficacy of the spoken speeches that follow. In the Elizabethan world: Dumb show = late medieval Mass, performed as a spectacle with mumble-jumbled Latin. Speeches =... Read more
In the course of demonstrating that Christ is not a creature, Athanasius pointed to the difference between human and divine fatherhood and sonship. Human sons have the potential to become fathers, and often do become fathers. But God the Father is unbegotten, and God the Son begets no other. That is to say, the Father is pure, unmixed Father, not filial; the Son is pure, unmixed Son, not paternal. Cool, but: What does it mean? One: The Son has pure... Read more
In her brilliant book, Evil in Modern Thought , Susan Neiman summarizes Kant’s epistemology as torn between two themes: One, Kant’s insistence that our knowledge is not God’s knowledge, and that we should be content with finitude; two, that we still want to be God, and that this straining (evident in the categorical imperative) is a morally necessary: “Kant never let us forget either the extent of our limits or the legitimacy of our wish to transcend them. Neither is... Read more
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