Ignatius Insight: Finding Shakespeare and Reclaiming the Classics | An Interview with Joseph Pearce

Carl Olson has a fascinating interview on Ignatius Insight with Joseph Pearce, the author of "The Quest for Shakespeare." The interview then continues on to discuss the new Ignatius Critical Editions (ICEs) which will be published as new editions of classics devoid of modernist "PC" additions and/or "critical commentary" so prevalent today in book sets.

Here is a snippet of the interview:

Ignatius Insight: There has been a tremendous amount of debate in recent years about Shakespeare's identity and the nature of his religious beliefs. Can you provide a basic overview to those debates?

Pearce: I give an overview of the various aspects of this debate in the opening chapter of my book. I show that the claims of those who say that someone other than Shakespeare wrote the plays are fundamentally flawed and are rooted in an ignorance of the real William Shakespeare. I then show that the claims of those who believe that Shakespeare was a Protestant or that he was an agnostic or atheist can be refuted by a clear look at the facts of Shakespeare's life. In my research I have built upon the solid historical detective work carried out by a host of scholars going way back to the seventeenth century. Building upon the scholarship of Richard Simpson, John Henry de Groot, Karl Wentersdorf, Heinrich Mutschmann and many others, I demonstrate, beyond all reasonable doubt, that Shakespeare was born into a devoutly and defiantly Catholic family, at a time of great persecution, and that he almost definitely remained a Catholic until his dying day.

This and Pearce's new book, are "must reads" for those interested in excellent literature and in William Shakespeare in particular!