The Mystical Art of Shakespeare

Shakespeare begins Romeo and Juliet with a Prologue summarizing the entire play: Chorus. Two households both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene From ancient grudge, break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life;…

The real value of a Shakespearean play is that its meaning is conveyed through our emotional involvement in the drama. Shakespeare conveys the meaning of his plays by making us live through them. The message of a Shakespearean play is not conveyed intellectually; it is experienced.  To truly imbibe the message of a Shakespearean play,…

All of Shakespeare’s plays have cohesive unity. What this means is that every part of every scene in a Shakespearean play contributes to its central meaning. There are no extraneous scenes. All the scenes either present the main action, or are part of the thematic resonance on the main theme, or are focused allegorical scenes…

Important evidence that Shakespeare does intend to convey sage messages in his plays can be found in Act I Scene 2 of Much Ado About Nothing. This short scene focuses on an error by Antonio’s man overhearing the conversation between the Prince and Claudio—he mistakenly concludes that the Prince himself seeks the hand of Hero. This…

Discussions on the mystical art of Shakespeare, and how he uses the three techniques of cohesive unity, thematic resonance and focused allegorical scenes to convey his meaning, can be found at this Facebook site: The Mystical Art of Shakespeare.

Shakespeare conveys the central meaning of his plays through the three techniques of cohesive unity (of the entire play), thematic resonance, and focused allegorical scenes. Cohesive unity refers to the fact that every part of the play (with no exception whatsoever) contributes to its central meaning.  This includes all the scenes that do not move…