William C. Michael

The Date of Love’s Labour’s Lost “Love’s Labour’s Lost” may safely be regarded as the earliest of Shakespeare’s plays. Its composition may be assigned without much fear of refutation to the year 1591, when its author was twenty-seven years old. He had probably arrived in London in search of a career five years before, and had at length gained a firm hold on the theatrical profession. He had made some progress in the reputation of an actor. Then, growing conscious of the possession of a playwright’s capacity, he was ambitious to put that consciousness to a practical test.” (Lee, Sir … Continue

Dramatis Personae Solinus, duke of Ephesus.Aegeon, a merchant of Syracuse.Antipholus of Ephesus, } twin brothers, and sons toAntipholus of Syracuse, } Aegeon and Aemilia.Dromio of Ephesus, } twin brothers, and attendants onDromio of Syracuse, } the two Antipholuses.Balthazar, a merchant.Angelo, a goldsmith.First Merchant, friend to Antipholus of Syracuse.Second Merchant, to whom Angelo is a debtor.Pinch, a schoolmaster.Aemilia, wife to Aegeon, an abbess at Ephesus.Adriana, wife to Antipholus of Ephesus.Luciana, her sister.Luce, servant to Adriana.A Courtezan.Gaoler, Officers, and other Attendants. Act I, Scene I. A hall in the Duke’s palace. Enter Duke, Aegeon, Gaoler, Officers, and other Attendants. Aege. Proceed, Solinus, … Continue

The Date of Two Gentlemen of Verona Shakespeare’s play “Two Gentlemen of Verona” is said to be one of Shakespeare’s earliest plays. In chronology, it is believed to have been produced after “Love’s Labor Lost” (1589) and “The Comedy of Errors” (1590). In his introduction, Garnett writes that the play “breathes the inspiration of eager, thoughtless, irresponsible youth” and clearly belongs among Shakespeare’s earliest works. The Plot of Two Gentlemen of Verona The plot of Shakespeare’s “Two Gentlemen of Verona”, as Garnett explains, is “expanded from an episode in the second book of Jorge de Montemayor’s famous Spanish romance2, “La … Continue

In this lesson in Classical Grammar, we study the comparison of adjectives in English. In lesson 02, we studied the parts of speech and learned the following: “Such words as can stand immediately before a substantive, to denote some property that we perceive in objects, is called a noun adjective, or merely an adjective.” In this lesson, we learn more about the characteristics of adjectives. 53. Adjectives are not declined in the English language. In classical languages, adjectives are declined. There are different forms of adjectives that must be matched to substantives to signify their gender, number and case. In … Continue

St. John of the Cross (1542-1591) was born and nurtured in poverty, and chose it also for his portion. Unable to learn a trade, he became the servant of the poor in the hospital of Medina, while still pursuing his sacred studies. In 1563, being then twenty-one, he humbly offered himself as a lay-brother to the Carmelite friars, who, however, knowing his talents, had him ordained priest. He would now have exchanged to the severe Carthusian Order, had not St. Teresa of Avila, with the instinct of a Saint, persuaded him to remain and help her in the reform of … Continue

The selection above is a musical setting by Claudio Monteverdi for evening prayers (vespers) on the eve of Marian feast days. Monteverdi lived from 1567 to 1643, and composed this work 1610 and dedicated it to Pope Paul V. Monteverdi is important for us as we consider the restoration of classical Catholic education and the real-life challenges we face a parents and students. The patron saint of students is St. Aloysius Gonzaga, who lived from 1568-1591, dying at age 23. Catholic parents often speak of “raising saints” as if this is a matter of choosing. The truth, however, is that … Continue

The following is taken from Thomas Taylor’s “Theoretic Arithmetic” (1818)[efn_note]Taylor, Thomas. Theoretic Arithmetic. (1818) https://classicalliberalarts.com/resources/Theoretic_arithmetic.pdf[/efn_note] Arithmetic is to be learned the first of the mathematical sciences, because it has the relation of a principle and mother to all the rest. For it is prior to all of them, not only because the fabricator[efn_note]See: https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=fabricator[/efn_note] of the universe employed this as the first paradigm of his distributed intellection[efn_note]See: https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=intellection[/efn_note], and constituted all things according to number. But the priority of Arithmetic is also evinced by this, that whenever that which is prior by nature is subverted, that which is posterior is … Continue