Where do you start with Shakespeare?
First of all, Shakespeare was a playwright, not a novelist. Reading his work is sometimes difficult simply because it was not written to read, but to be seen. All the imagery you get in a novel is missing because it was meant to be visible on the stage. So it is not "cheating" to look for a video version although it is frequently disappointing. Many videos are so unfaithful to the text and, even more, to the spirit of the plays, that they are worse than nothing.
Best Videos:
Kevin Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing is delightful.
Branagh's Henry V is quite violent.
The version of Hamlet starring Mel Gibson is just wonderful. It grows on you.
The Stratford Players in Canada have made video recordings of play productions, and while somewhat inferior as videos, these are wonderfully full of energy and joy in the words. We have enjoyed
The Taming of the Shrew and
As You Like It.
Best Books
Kittredge Shakespeare I have it on good authority that the Kittredge Shakespeare is the best. It weighs about five pounds and is awkward for daily use, but don't underestimate the value of accuracy!
The Folger Library editions of each play are easy-to-use paperbacks with fairly good notes and a convenient list of famous quotations at the back of each play.
Actually the notes are very good, and since they are opposite the text, page by page, they are very helpful. Still, since there is no reference to the situation of Catholics, and no understanding even of the most obvious Catholic theology, there are gaps that I saw even before I read all the recent literature about Shakespeare as a Catholic.
Shakespeare in the Classroom by Dr. Albert Cullum A classroom teacher himself, Cullum has edited half-hour versions of eight of Shakespeare's plays. It is Shakespeare's wit in a size that the middle grades can produce. We have loved these. A homeschool association of 16-20 students can produce them, and the younger set can do the walk-on parts with zest while hearing the language they will never forget.
Shakespeare for Children Charles and Mary Lamb have written up the stories, simply as stories, for children. Even for the older set, this is more attractive than Cliff notes, and very helpful for anyone who wants to get the plot and characters straight before plunging into the language.
Shakespeare, greatest of English writers, deserves his own page, and I have named it after my favorite children's book about Shakespeare, The Bard of Avon. Still, even this author seems ignorant of a matter of central importance to understanding this great man. He was a Catholic in an age when persecution of Catholics was so bitter that, on the average, one priest was hung, drawn, and quartered every five years, just in Warwickshire, his home county. He knew human nature as it is uniquely known to those who suffer persecution for righteousness and whose survival depends in part on their ability to judge the trustworthiness of their neighbors.
Annotated bibliography about William Shakespeare:
The Quest for Shakespeare
by Joseph Pearce
I have not read this as it is not "out" but I have heard Pearce speak and have read his other books. I feel certain that this will top the list as soon as it is here.
Shadowplay: the Hidden beliefs and coded politics of William Shakespeare
by Claire Asquith
This is an extraordinary discussion of the manner in which a persecuted people may talk to each other in the theater, followed by a discussion of the Catholic dissenters of Shakespeare's time. Was he one of them?
Bard of Avon A carefully illustrated and very brief well-written life of Shakespeare for the younger generation. You get an image of the scenery of his life. Need to correct the famous old error about the "second best bed" that he left to his wife. This was not an insult. The custom in those days was to have a guestroom in which the best bed was kept for visitors. The second best bed was the wedding bed he shared with his wife and far more her treasure than the "best bed." Most likely he lived away from her because of the problems of Catholics in England of that time. This lovely little volume also includes introductions to many of Shakespeare's plays.
The Shakespeares and the Old Faith
John Henry DeGroot
Recently published by Real-View Books, reprinted from King's Crown Books, 1947 A meticulous investigation into Shakespeare's faith, this work was very humbly done by a Protestant. Plain vanilla text, but the information is dynamite.
Shakespeare and Catholicism by Mutschmann and Wentersdorf published by Sheed and Ward, 1952. This is a later book, a little easier read, written by Catholics. This volume includes reflection on some of the plays in the light of Shakespeare's faith. It has an afterword by Stanley Jaki, my physicist friend, but he knows something about academic silence about Catholics.
