VIDEO-In Search of Shakespeare

In Search of Shakespeare is a PBS production that takes a life of the Bard and a thesis and runs with it making a very compelling case that Shakespeare was a closet Catholic sympathizer and a product of his times. The problem with any reading of Shakespeare is that it divorces Shakes from his time. This video puts him back in time where he belongs.

In Elizabethan times, being a Catholic in England could get you fucked up in a bad way. In those days, they would execute you by hanging, drawing, and quartering which anyone who has watched Braveheart knows very well. This is where they hang you slow to let you strangle for a bit. Then, they would remove your guts and burn them while you watched. They would finish by tearing out your heart, and if you were lucky, you would get to see that beat one last time. Then, they chopped you in four bits or "quarters." Against this backdrop, you begin to appreciate how brave someone like Shakespeare was.

The series also answers an important question. Did Shakespeare really write all those plays? The main criticism was that Shakespeare could not have been educated enough to write those plays, but the series makes the compelling argument that Shakespeare was educated in secret. Shakespeare got his education from the "Catholic underground." He had access to books and educated himself and received instruction from others and also taught.

The series goes on to describe how Shakespeare made a name for himself and became what he was--the greatest writer in the English language. You also learn where he got many of his ideas and also why he wrote the stories that he wrote. Every bit of it is tied to the politics of his day.

In Search of Shakespeare is a fine work, and I highly recommend it to both lovers of literature and history. You will enjoy this one immensely.

Posted in: