Talks

This is a question and answer session. Opera is an acquired taste, it takes time and effort to learn and appreciate. It helps to see

How should a Catholic relate to art? The Church has always had an uneasy relationship with the arts. She recognizes the capacity of the arts

For many, Shakespeare’s faith is inconsequential: for Catholics it is important. His lineage proves his Catholicism. His paternal grandfather, Richard, worked on the estate of

William Shakespeare was not a courageous man, and subject to human frailty. When he married Anne Hathaway, she was already pregnant. She was eight years

Conversion is a two-step process: restore the humanity in the person to help them reconnect to the world, then connect them to God. Restore man

The last four plays of Shakespeare’s career are his romances (Pericles, Cymbeline, The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale.) In these plays he sums up all he has learned about

The first three acts of The Winter’s Tale contain the tragedy of the play. The final two acts, based on the principles of comedy, resolve

Comedy, the conflict of the individual verses society, rules this fourth act. The story now shifts to Bohemia, and we get a sense that this

The final act of the play takes place back in Sicily, where the story began. The anticipation of the reunion of the daughter to her

In this introduction to Charles Dickens and David Copperfield, Dr. White discusses the beloved author’s great success early in life with his very first novel

Dr. White discusses Charles Dickens’ great gift for characterization, which extended even to very minor characters. He gives specific examples of this from David Copperfield,

Dr. White discusses sentimentality and its characteristics, explaining that it focuses on emotions and wallows in them for their own sake, and pointing out that

This last part of Dr. White’s conference on David Copperfield opens with a discussion of an episode at David’s school which emphasizes the importance of

Fyodor Dostoyevsky is a Russian novelist who lived and wrote in the latter half of the nineteenth century. He is considered by many to be

Notes From Underground is a new type of literature. It defines Dostoyevsky as a modern author. There is no hero of gigantic stature. Our narrator

The first part of the book takes place in 1864 when the antihero is 40 years old. He is a government worker with a pathetic

Dr. White’s introduction to T. S. Eliot’s The Wasteland begins with a brief description of the origins of poetry, which White describes as the oldest

Dr. White continues his introduction to T. S. Eliot by exploring the poet’s somewhat rootless youth. Though an American by birth, Eliot was never comfortable

In general remarks about T. S. Eliot and the factors that inspired him to write The Wasteland, Dr. White draws some comparisons to his (White’s)

Dr. White’s concluding remarks about T. S. Eliot include a reading of a portion of Ash Wednesday, a poem that in White’s analysis concerns a soul