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Dcerninghearts.com presents great works in Western literature with Joseph Pearce,

who is an internationally acclaimed author and literary scholar whose work explores the great

writers of Western literature through a Catholic and classical lens.

He has written numerous best-selling books on figures such as Shakespeare, Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton,

Oscar Wilde, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, and El Arbog. A frequent lecture and longtime contributor

to EWTN, he serves as visiting professor of literature at Ave Maria University and as editor

of St. Austin Review.

The great works in Western literature with Joseph Pierce. I'm your host, Chris McGregor.

The Merchant of Venice is probably the most controversy of all Shakespeare's plays. It is also one of the least understood. Is it a comedy or a tragedy? What is the meaning behind the test of the caskets? Who is the real villain of the trial scene? Is Shylock simply vicious and venomous, or is he more sinned against than sinning?

One of the most popular Shakespeare's plays, King Lear, is also one of the most thought-provoking.

The play turns on the practical ramifications of the words of Christ that we should render under Caesar,

that which is Caesar's, and unto God,

that which is gods. When confronted with the demand that she should render unto Caesar that which is

gods, Cordelia chooses to love and be silent. As the play unfolds, each of the principal characters learns wisdom through suffering.

We now begin our discussion of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice and King Lear.

King Lear and The Merchant of Venice are really extraordinary works.

Absolutely.

And first of all, the Merchant of Venice is a comedy.

...