Jesus, Master of Stories
Jesus, the author of life, is a master at stories, especially parables and allegories. When his disciples go to him and ask “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” He answers,
To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to him who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says:
‘You shall indeed hear but never understand,
and you shall indeed see but never perceive.
For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and their ears are heavy of hearing,
and their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should perceive with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
And understand with the heart,
And turn for me to heal them.’But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. Truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
As Jesus says, it’s to the disciples who are given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven.
To the masses is given the story, to the disciples the meaning.
Saint Paul, Master of Meaning
Another example. Saint Paul, in being conformed to his savior, was also one who explained the mystery of allegories. One example of many was in his Letter to the Galatians, where he teaches the hidden and deeper meaning to the story of Isaac and Ishmael.
Tell me, you who desire to be under law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, the son of the free woman through promise. Now this is an allegory: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written,
‘Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;
Break forth and shout, you who are not with labor pains;
For the desolate has more children
Than she who has a husband.’Now we, brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise.
According to Saint Paul, a witness to truth, this ancient story about Isaac and Ishmael had hidden meanings that were revealed in Jesus. Ishmael represented the people of God still under the law, the Jews of the first century through today, the ones who did not and do not accept their Messiah. And Isaac represented the people who accepted Jesus as Messiah. In both cases, a literal person symbolically represented a people.
Shakespeare, Master of Allegory
Both examples are important models for understanding how to see, interpret, and understand Shakespeare’s allegories, including his very beautiful Julius Caesar. In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, we have Brutus who represents King Henry VIII. We will see this as we continue through the details of this allegory; so, Brutus represents a person.
We also have Mark Antony. He represents the Catholic priests who become Anglican under horny Henry; so, Antony represents a people.
Now, the story of Julius Caesar is rich with opportunity for it to be retold in the form of a Catholic allegory. From the details of the initials of the name being similar as Jesus Christ, to the their roles as leaders and conqueror, one of earthly titles, the other of sin and death, to lesser details such as the divine cults raised around them and their own betrayals by professed friends. A lesser artist would have made the story of Julius Caesar into an allegory of Jesus Christ and been satisfied with the simple analogy.
When Julius was betrayed, he’d have him respond “And you, Brutus?” and the echo would have been “And you, Judas?” and somehow details of thirty pieces of silver would have been woven into the play and we’d have lines like “Did not the great Julius bleed for justice’ sake?” and we’d know the author meant Jesus. And we would have considered him a great creator of allegories.
But Shakespeare is more than great, he is genius. He is given the divine spirit to make eternal statements. And this genius even steps further than what a good storyteller would do and did what only geniuses do, and he told not simply a Christian allegory about Jesus Christ, but he told a Catholic allegory about the fall of the Church in England.
A great part of the story of that fall is the story of priests. And that’s why it’s so important to pay attention to the character of Mark Antony, for here Shakespeare helps us see their situation. Mark Antony was a priest in the divine cult of Caesar, and Shakespeare used those historical facts to guide who he’d represent in the allegory.
More to come next week, till then, let us be those who see with our eyes and hear with our ears, and in that way we can understand with our hearts and turn to the Lord to be healed. This is why we must learn to hear Shakespeare, our healing as Americans, as Christians, as Catholics, comes by hearing what the divine Will wrote through the genius Will.
Let those with ears to hear, hear Shakespeare.
Those who do are given the secrets of the kingdom of heaven.