CULTURE CRIT: A SHAKESPEARE, BIBLE AND GILLIGAN LUNCH
By Allan R. Andrews
American Reporter Correspondent
Washington, D.C.

I sat for lunch with three others attending the weekend conference. I heard one of them introduce herself as a "professor of classics" so I had begun the conversation by asking just what she taught in her classics department.

Then the classics professor added, "I've taught a course in the Bible as literature."

Across the table, another professor, recently retired from a university English department, chimed in, "Oh, I taught that course. It was one of my favorites."

I asked the English professor what her specialty had been.

"Shakespeare," she said, but the discussion between the two professionals returned to the Bible as literature. The fourth person at our table, a young banking lawyer, sat as I did in rapt attention as the professors compared notes on teaching the Bible.

The classics teacher related how she feared she was being too easy and simplified with her class when she introduced them to Jesus' parables and had them read the story of the prodigal son.

She was astounded, she said, when most of her class (at a Jesuit college) indicated it was the first time they'd ever heard of the story, let alone read it, and they mostly wanted to know why the father let his wayward son back into the family circle.

"I never worried about being too simple after that," the professor said.

The classics professor asked the English professor what version of the Bible she used when she taught the course in Bible as literature.

I expected them to agree on the Shakespearean-sounding King James Version, but they agreed instead that they tried hard to interest students in the New Revised Standard Version.

The professors compared notes on whether or not they attempted to introduce students to critical textual discussions of the Bible.

Seeking to lighten the conversation a bit, I related my story: "I was in my late teens," I said, "before I realized that one of my mother's favorite admonitions, 'Neither a borrower nor a lender be,' was not from the Bible."

The Shakespeare scholar smiled. Then the lawyer -- probably a decade or two younger than the rest at the table -- jumped in: "Oh, I knew that was Shakespeare because I remembered seeing it played out on 'Gilligan's Island.' They did it to the music of 'Carmen'."

"I remember that," the English professor exclaimed, and for the next several minutes she and the lawyer exchanged nodding reminiscences of the '60s tv show. The English professor joined the chat with another illustration from popular culture that had something to do with talking horses and the TV show "Mr. Ed."

There I sat in the midst of obvious scholarship and readers of classic literature listening to three highly educated professionals animatedly discussing "Gilligan's Island." I was only able to add that the show's star, Bob Denver, was retired and living in West Virginia, a piece of trivia I'd picked up on the news wires that week.

Reflecting later on this casual conversation, it struck me that popular culture, especially that delivered by television, has struck deep into the consciousness of the modern world and has wheedled its way into the academy.

I smiled when I remembered the animated discussion I had witnessed between a classics professor, a Shakespeare scholar and a banking lawyer concerning a juvenile television drama. It was a moment that probably would have had Shakespeare jotting notes for a "Three scholars from Frederick" play.

Returning home, I wasn't certain whether I would dig out my anthology of Shakespeare's plays and sonnets, pull down my copy of the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible to check out the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32, for those who might check), or join my sons and daughter in the family room to see if we could channel surf and come upon some syndicated episodes of "Gilligan's Island."

Something told me that to be a true Renaissance man in the 21st Century, I'd have to find time and attention for all three.

Allan R. Andrews is an editor in Washington, D.C., and a freelance writer.
He can be contacted at allan.andrews@reporters.net

Copyright 1999 Joe Shea The American Reporter. All Rights Reserved.

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