The Mystical Art of Shakespeare
The transcendent light that burns within the text of a Shakespearean play is conveyed to us, in true mystical fashion, byabsorbing our very being into the enactment of its meaning. The message of the play is not conveyed intellectually; it isexperienced. The mystical art of Shakespeare is thus the art of initiation.
Shakespeare conveys his meaning by making us live through it. It is an emotional encounter designed to illuminatethe universal spiritual principles within the depths of our own inner being. Shakespearean plays are thus akin to themystery plays of old, where the initiate is introduced into the deeper mystical principles through the evocation of aheartfelt experience of their truth.
To truly imbibe the message of a Shakespearean play, we thus need to feel and breathe the life of the drama as though it were real. We must plunge ourselves fully into the action and live through the performance. This is the experience of a true mystical theatre. It is learning through emotional participation, an encounter that always leaves a deeper impression than mere textbook learning. This initiatic quality is the very nature of the esoteric art of Shakespeare.
Shakespeare crafts every play meticulously to make us experience the truth of its message. This is clear because ofthree distinctive traits, found in all Shakespearean plays, that reveal this nature of the playwright’s intent:
The meaning of a Shakespearean play resides in the experience of the play as a cohesive whole. While it is well recognized that a good short essay should be unified, Shakespeare extends this principle of unity to the entire play, somuch so that there are no extraneous scenes in a Shakespearean play. Each play constitutes a tightly bound unit, carefully crafted to leave its impact as a single compact entity. We may call this characteristic quality—found in every Shakespearean play—a “cohesive unity” of meaning, since every part of the play contributes towards the central theme.
It is thus improper to base our interpretation of any Shakespearean play on a mere selected portion of the play, in a way that renders the rest of the same play irrelevant (or even contradictory to our interpretation). If we extract a portion of a Shakespearean play, we can almost certainly interpret this isolated segment in diverse ways. Some critics then claim it impossible to determine clear authorial intent. This is a fallacy because it ignores the cohesive unity in all Shakespearean plays.
Different interpretations are possible only if we consider bits of the play separately in isolation. Diversity in interpretation is virtually impossible if we interpret the entire play as a cohesive whole. Shakespeare’s intent will then be clear. The meaning of a Shakespearean play lies in the experience of it as a single coherent entity, and any interpretation must heed this unity of purpose.
To make the play function as a cohesive whole, Shakespeare’s opening scene introduces the play’s main area ofconcern. The subsequent few scenes then elaborate on this area of concern and bring the central theme into focus. Shakespeare then keeps our focus on this central theme through the second characteristic technique found in all his plays.
As each Shakespearean play imparts its message through our emotional experience, the central meaning is repeated many times throughout the play. The dominant themes of the play reverberate through the entire drama, like a long rolling thunder, that often builds from the beginning to a resounding climax at the end. We may call this unique trait of ever-repeating motifs in Shakespeare’s plays “thematic resonance”—a technique of flooding our subconscious with an incessant flow of recurring impressions that convey the deeper meaning to our inner being.
While it may be difficult, at times, to discern accurately the intent of other authors through their narrative writings, the thematic resonance found in Shakespeare’s works makes his intent patently clear. We should look for the meaning of a Shakespearean play in the motifs that echo incessantly from start to finish. It is this characteristic in Shakespeare’s plays that makes it so evident what Shakespeare’s intended meaning is.
In this sense, Shakespeare’s plays stand out uniquely from other literary works. By employing thematic resonance, Shakespeare is able—despite the instability of meaning in language—to provide stability to the meaning of his plays. In other words, he drives home his message by relentlessly repeating it.
Another vital clue to the meaning of a Shakespearean play resides in scenes that do not directly contribute to the mainaction. There are often many scenes in a Shakespearean play that appear unnecessary to the plot, and which may evenbe considered mere comic relief. Nonetheless, they are there for a specific reason for they contribute to the play’s centralmeaning.
We shall call all these apparently extraneous scenes “focused allegorical scenes” because they artistically amplify the main themes of the play using symbolism, analogy or parody. These allegorical scenes can be called “focused” because they all contribute towards advancing the central message. It is this unified focus of all the allegorical scenes in any one play that makes this evidence of authorial intent so compelling. These scenes now provide us with some of the best clues to Shakespeare’s intended meaning.
While allegorical scenes, taken in isolation, may be interpreted in diverse ways, these same allegorical scenes,taken in combination with the cohesive unity and thematic resonance in the play, become clear in their intended meaning.These focused allegorical scenes are designed to artistically amplify the themes already suggested by Shakespeare in themain action of the play.
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If we heed the three characteristic traits found in all Shakespearean plays—their cohesive unity, thematic resonance, and focused allegorical scenes—the intended meaning of each play is patently clear. These distinctive traits must be seriously considered because they cannot exist unless Shakespeare meticulously crafted them. Something so consistent and elaborate cannot occur by chance. It would be a travesty to persist in interpreting Shakespeare’s plays while ignoring what he deliberately crafts into them.
While the meaning of each play is obvious from its cohesive unity, thematic resonance, and focused allegoricalscenes, there is yet another clue to the meaning of Shakespeare’s plays if we consider them collectively. Shakespeare wrote hisplays all with the intent of conveying deep spiritual principles. Thus, his collection of plays forms a cohesive whole. Eachplay focuses on a different aspect of the spiritual path, and they all complement one other. An awareness of this fact isanother useful tool in understanding each play.
In the following pages, we will find the above traits manifesting through the entire plays of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew and Romeo and Juliet. As these traits are also evident in all of Shakespeare’s plays, an intriguing question arises: If all Shakespearean plays characteristically demonstrate these qualities in their construction—qualities that render clearly the meaning of his plays—why then has this meaning eluded critics for centuries?
The answer resides in the unique spiritual nature of the messages behind Shakespeare’s plays. Shakespeare’s messages target the average person, unlike those found in most other literary works that, instead, target those considered “below average” in morality. The messages of these other literary works are generally not applicable to the average majority, since the majority has no need for them, and this ironically allows the average person to accept their meaning readily. Since these messages do not require a change in one’s perspective on life, there is no problem accepting them.
Shakespeare’s messages, however, uniquely target the average person, which means you and I. Shakespeare’s messages directly apply to us and may involve principles we do not yet fully understand. A full acceptance of Shakespeare’s meaning may require a change in our perspective on life or even our lifestyle, and change generates resistance. Consciously or subconsciously, we may choose to avoid hearing the message. That is probably the reason why the meaning behind a Shakespearean play is often missed: We miss it because we do not want to hear it.
Yet, it is for this very reason that Shakespeare’s plays are of such importance. His messages target us because we need to hear them. Shakespeare’s plays thus constitute a timeless and invaluable gift to humanity, a living legacy that conveys a deep spiritual meaning we particularly need to appreciate at this critical time of human history.
It is because Shakespeare’s plays are invested with such profound meaning that they have an enthralling—and almost hypnotic—grip upon our subconscious. The plays have this lyrical mesmerizing quality because they touch something archetypal and deep within us, like a reminder of something profound we may have long forgotten, yet still resides within the inner recesses of our being.
It is important that we also try to understand, beyond the subconscious level, the messages behind Shakespeare’s plays; for they are the same universal messages that past sages have long tried to impart to a suffering humanity. A deeper understanding of Shakespeare’s meaning will enhance the experiential initiatic quality of his plays, help evoke the actual experience of living through the mystical principles they convey. Shakespeare’s plays thus constitute an invaluable tool that we may use to help us along the long road towards true mystical illumination of the deeper spiritual principles of the universe.