Required Reading

My Mom used to make us read Shakespeare. We would hop in the car and drive south, 5 hours or so, to Ashland, Oregon where there was an annual summer Shakespeare festival. Mom felt was not only terra firma in a solid liberal arts education but also recognized that Shakespeare informed one about life. But we had to read the play before we could see it.

Recent events call to mind those lessons. Lance Armstrong's personal campaign of righteous indignation over claims he doped, annoying as it is, strikes me as just one more case in the current epidemic of personal corruption and deceit. And it's an epidemic that shows no sign of abating. Nobody's done anything wrong-- just ask 'em. And ask 'em, and ask 'em and ask 'em.

I will never forget reading Hamlet one of the first times and coming across the line, "The lady doth protest too much..." I remember full well the discussion that ensued about the suspicion one generates by being over passionate in their own defense. In short, I've never believed anyone who carries on about their innocence or what it is they didn't do. A few years back a friend of mine kept going on and on in a public conversation about how much he enjoyed using a friend's boat just to "spend the night, all by myself." About the third time he reiterated "all by myself" I had to interrupt and explain he was pretty much admitting to an affair. I fact it turned out he was. Just ask his ex-wife.

Having attempted to dodge infidelity in my own dark and dangerous past, I know this game. Know it and have played it. In the current stream of constant public denial I have to wonder if these people actually hear themselves. I know I did. It didn't stop me but I heard myself and it is such a bizarre experience, hearing oneself lie passionately.

I guess my Mom was right when she used to point us to Shakespeare as a source for enlightenment in the politics and perils of life. I can't say I learned all the lessons as well or as quickly as I should have-- but I certainly learned to recognize many of the signs and symptoms. It seems we're living in a time when rereading a whole host of lessons, from Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Othello, might serve us well.