What Would Jesus Say In a Class About Shakespeare?

A couple of years ago, my father-in-law gave me a book roughly the size of a small buidling. It was the "Complete Works of Shakespeare" and it seriously weighed about 30 pounds, as though an Atlas and a Dictionary had mated. It's so helpful for a number of reasons 1: because it has all the works of Shakespeare and 2: we'll undoubtedly use it as a booster chair for our child later in life.

Anyway, my interest in Shakespeare has been upped lately because my AP English classes are getting ready to start Macbeh. And I'm thinking of trying to get through that whole book - all of Shakespeare's works - this calendar year. Lose 50 pounds, read all of Shakespeare, have a kid, write a book. Those are my goals.

I'm mostly intrigued right now by Iago in Othello. I can't quite figure the guy out. Why is he so vindictive? I mean, the dude devotes his whole existence to revenge, of systematically destroying the life of Othello. But why? Is there some underlying psychological pathos? Is it his wounded pride that he wasn't promoted? Is he jealous that Othello snagged the beautiful Desdemona? Is this all about sexual jealousy? Or was it, as it seems, because Othello got promoted and Iago didn't? Can being spurned professionally, passed over for a job, really lead to such vehement hatred? Iago certainly manipulates people using their own racial prejudice, but is Iago himself a bigot of monumental proportions? Is there some sort of religious hatred because Othello is a Moor? Did his father not spend enough time with him? Did his mother not breastfeed? Dr. Phil, help!

The conclusion I'm coming to is that Iago does what he does because...he's Iago. Shakespeare, that master of human nature, just draws up characters and lets them interact with each other. Some authors deal in species of men: by that I mean archetypes. The big strong heroic figure. The defiant, courageous woman queen. The wimpy guy who's smart, but weak and hated. The seductress. Etc. Etc. But Shakespeare seems to draw...individuals who surprise you. I mean, Macbeth, (though so villanous later that we hardly identify with him) at the beginning is so tormented, so clearly a man who desperately wants to follow his conscience. And yet he does wrong. Who of us hasn't been there? And the only difference between the foil characters of Duncan and Malcolm and Banquo is that these men...well, resist evil. Why? I guess because it's just who they are.

I've been thinking that maybe one of Shakespeare's contributions (among the obviously other hundreds) is that he's showing us that the most crucial part of human existence is...character. It's not just the most important thing on the stage, maybe it's the most important thing in life. Who you are on the inside, what your strongest values are, is all that matters. And that determines your destiny, the trajectory of your life. And really, there's no getting away from that.

Of course the next question is "How does one get character" and then after that "can one change one's character." Shakespeare seems to think so, in some plays, not so much in others. Perhaps that's just the way, too. Some men can change. Others can't or don't.

What I'd really like now is a commentary written by Jesus about the works of Shakespeare. You know, hear what The Lord had to say about The Bard.

But for now, if you'd like to comment, I'd like to read that almost as much.