Tagged: Shakespeare

Books and Reading

My Favorite Reads of 2023

When 2023 began, I did not expect that two books I read would become two of my favorite books of all time. But that is exactly what happened. I also did not expect to read so many books, since my resolution last year was to slow down and savor books more deeply. But sixteen of the books I read were plays by Shakespeare as I began an attempt to read all of his plays in the order in which they were written. I was not as pleased as...

Rick and Ilsa

Homily

The Greatest Love Story of All Time – Homily for Holy Thursday 2016

The world is full of great love stories. We see them in literature and film and in history: stories like Casablanca, Pride and Prejudice, and Titanic. Lovers like Romeo and Juliet, Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester, even Matthew Crawley and Lady Mary. We all relate to a good love story. What makes them so powerful are the obstacles that the lovers try to overcome. Sometimes they’re successful and their story ends in joy; and sometimes they’re not and the story ends in tragedy. But they remain great stories...

Henry V Kenneth Branagh

Homily

Henry V and the Transfiguration: Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Lent

One of the greatest speeches in all of literature is the St. Crispin’s Day Speech by William Shakespeare from his play, Henry V. It’s October 25, in the year 1415, and King Henry of England and his men are about to fight the French in what will come to be known as the Battle of Agincourt. Henry’s men are exhausted and sick. They’ve been fighting for months, and they’ve just finished a long and grueling siege of Harfleur castle. As they move across the French countryside trying to...

Much Ado About Nothing - Branagh

Movies

My Favorite Romantic Movie

My favorite romantic movie combines great literature with great cinema: it’s Kenneth Branagh’s interpretation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. My wife and I love watching this movie together, but the first time we watched it on DVD we got a bit of a surprise we weren’t counting on. We had watched it several times on a videotape I had recorded from PBS, so when it came out on DVD I was looking forward to watching it in its original widescreen format so we could see every bit...