The Brightest Heaven of Invention

This book is a Christian introduction to Shakespeare for high school students and includes analysis, questions, and reviw for six of Shakespeare's most meaningful (and enjoyable) plays. "Shakespeare was, as Caesar says of Cassius, 'a great observer,' able to see and depict patterns of events and character. He understood how politics is shaped by the clash of men with various colorings of self-interest and idealism, how violence breeds violence, how fragile human beings create masks and disguises for protection, how schemers do the same for advancement, how love can grow out of hate and hate out of love. Dare anyone say that these insights are irrelevant to living in the real world? For many in an older generation, the Bible and the Collected Shakespeare were the two indispensable books, and thus their sense of life and history was shaped by the best and best-told stories. And they were the wiser for it. This book by theologian Peter Leithart is written for high school students and includes analyses of six of Shakespeare's plays ( Henry V, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Hamlet, The Taming of the Shrew , and Much Ado About Nothing ), as well as numerous review and discussion questions for anyone who wishes to incorporate them into their high school curriculum.