Fr. David Beauregard, OMV, presents ShakeSpeare - Was He or Was Not He ... A Catholic

Past event: Thursday, December 13, 2007

ShakeSpeare - Was He or Was Not He ... A Catholic

Fr. David Beauregard, OMV, Shakespearean scholar

Introduction

Was Shakespeare Catholic?

Few names in history evoke such a wide array of responses as William Shakespeare (see Wikipedia article on his Catholic roots). To some he conjures up memories of agonizing days in English class, to others he is the standard by which all other writers are measured, and to others still he is just an historic relic that has no bearing on how we live today. Somewhere deep in the litany of these characterizations resides the occasional reference to Shakespeare’s religion, and to the dismay of some Elizabethan purists there is growing evidence that Shakespeare may actually have been a Roman Catholic. The greatest writer of all time – a Catholic with his faith clearly manifested in his many masterpieces, can this possibly be so?

Please join us as we explore a topic which has recently received a lot of academic attention and as we examine Shakespeare’s Catholic faith and its influence on his work. Bringing this discussion to life will be Fr. David Beauregard, OMV, a Shakespearean scholar whose latest book on the topic of Shakespeare’s faith was recently featured in the Boston Globe. Fr. Dave has written on and taught classes in this area for many years. We are grateful he has so generously made himself available to speak to the Leadership Forum.

About the Speaker

David N. Beauregard received his Ph.D. in English Literature from The Ohio State University. He studied theology in Rome at the University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), where he received his S.T.B. For four years he served as Director of Publications for The National Catholic Bioethics Center and as editor of Ethics & Medics. Presently he is adjunct professor of Church History at St. John’s School of Theology in Boston. An assistant editor of Religion and the Arts (Boston College), he is author of Virtue’s Own Feature: Shakespeare and the Virtue Ethics Tradition (1995) and co-editor of Shakespeare and the Culture of Christianity in Early Modern England (2003).

He has published several articles on Shakespeare in Shakespeare Studies, Renascence, Religion and the Arts, and The Ben Jonson Journal. Recently he has published Catholic Theology in Shakespeare's Plays (University of Delaware Press, 2007).

The Boston Globe recently featured an article about his thesis. See: Scholar sees a Catholic in the Bard

Details

When: Thursday, December 13, 2007
Where:
Cost:
Contact: TCasey@BostonLeadershipForum.com or PBuckley@BostonLeadershipForum.com

About the Leadership Forum

The Leadership Forum was established twelve years ago by a group of downtown Boston professionals as a way to encourage men to live unity of life, integrating their faith into their professional, family and social lives.

The Leadership Forum takes its inspiration from documents of the Second Vatican Council, the writings of Pope John Paul II and St. Josemaria Escriva, the Founder of Opus Dei. The Leadership Forum is in its twelth season.