1. The Secret of Shakespeare..the secret of Shakespeare has been missed --page 353, The Art of Memory by Frances Yates

2. Romeo and Juliet was the start of ascientific investigation conducted and performed through drama! 3. There is a secret play in Romeo and Juliet! It concerns the historicalrelationship between Man and the Sun 4. The secret play is an allegory The secret play is revealed primarilythrough the way that Romeo andJuliet interact with each other. If youwill review the play, you will noticethat when they are together they donot interact functionally and fully withother characters. 5. Thus we are left with 4 scenes they share, and these are the most famous scenes in the play 1) The Party scene 2) The Balcony scene 3) The Farewell scene4) The Tomb scene 6. Act I, scene vAt the House of the Capulets, Romeo meets JulietRomeo: If I profane with my unworthiest handThis holy shrine, the gentle sin is this, My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready standTo smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss 7. The first scene is a rough schematicallegory for Pre-Historical or Antique Man,who worshipped the Sun. When Romeo first sees Juliet, there is asense of her as a source of light---O, shedoth teach the torches to burn bright! They use the language of worship when theymeet, and their speech is crowded with wordsof worship profane, sin, pilgrims, saints,holy palmers, prayr, faith 8. Romeo meets Juliet Its humans pagan past. Weworshipped the sun and felt close tothe sun. Probably, nature rituals were outside,not in churches, so we were close tonature for religious practice. 9. Act II, scene ii: The Balcony scene Romeo: But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Shakespeare has given away the secret identity of Juliet here! Shortly thereafter, in the same speech, Romeo uses words like lamp daylight, stars, heaven, airy region and bright to further describe Juliet and subtly imprint upon the minds of listeners her identity in the parallel play. Romeo is Man embracing an agricultural era. In such an economy, everything is from the sun in one way or another; fish, grain, baskets, cotton, meat, leather, feathers, linen, wood, and more. 10. Act II, scene ii, continued Juliet: My bounty is as boundless as thesea, my love as deep; the more I give tothee The more I have, for both areinfinite.In a sun economy, everything comes from the sun. Allthe flows of matter and energy that we need to stayalive and keep warm, our food, our water, shoes,clothes and the tools to make them..all comes fromthe sun. People did have this sort of lifestyle 1000 yearsago. 11. On the balcony, Juliet is now a bit removed from Romeo Juliet is removed. Christianity movedworship into churches and direct sunworship was also, obviously, not partof the plan. So Juliet, on the balcony, is awayfrom Romeo now. He can see her. Butthere is a separation. 12. Between the Balcony scene and the Farewell Scene, thereis one very brief scene where Romeo and Juliet interact with the only character fully permitted into their magic circle. This character is Friar Lawrence, the stand-in (allegoricalfigure) for Shakespeare himself.Friar Lawrence performs the wedding. (This is not shown)Friar Lawrence says he will incorporate two in one. 13. Friar Lawrence gives away Romeos identity asMan, just as Romeo gives away Juliets identity as the sun. In Act III, scene iii, Friar Lawrencesays, Romeo, come forth, thoufearful man; affliction is enamordof thy parts, And thou art wedded tocalamity. 14. (side note here) When Friar Lawrence says that Romeo (man)is subject to affliction and calamity, I think thatShakespeare doesnt mean there is no hopefor us. He simply means that Mankind isoriented around solving problems, but oursolutions are not always without furtherproblems..(look at Fukushima for oneexample!) 15. Friar Lawrence is called ghostly confessor andghostly father by Romeo and Juliet. Why is heghostly? Because he can pass through the boundaries of the secret play and speak to them when they aretogether. No other character can do this, but oneother one comes close! Juliets nurse comes near to penetrating the walls separating Romeo and Juliet from the others. She is often calling Juliet! Juliet! from a little way away while Juliet is together with Romeo. 16. Why does the Nurse have this specialpower to almost break into the magiccircle where Romeo and Juliet conduct their secret play?? She is a Clown/Fool figure. The Clown or Foolcharacter is one with a very old dramatic ancestry. TheClown/Fool figure used to lead the processions/paradesin seasonal rituals and festivals which were conductedand celebrated in honor of the sun. Therefore the Nurseis close to the sun in her dramatic lineage. Indeed,she is close to Juliet, the sun figure, too, as hercaretaker. 17. The Nurse calls Juliet onto the stage in Act I, scene iii, after Juliets mother says call her forth to me(Olderplays often used calling onto the stage as a way to revealcharacters). Nurse: Now by my maidenhead at twelve year old, I bade her come. What lamb! What ladybird! God forbid! Wheres this girl? What, Juliet! Lambs and ladybirds are some creatures you might see in the countryside of England at this time----around 1596----but you would not see them in London, which was smoky and crowded. The countryside of England was still sun-powered. Not London. God forbid---the Nurse accidentally reveals something about Juliets real identity, that is to say, there is a spiritual component in the Sun. This is not to say that Shakespeare advocates sun-worship, by the way! (More on this later!) 18. Clowns and Fool figures are always telling the truth butbecause they speak in nonsensical ways, no one everbelieves them. The Nurse tells a story about her latehusband talking to baby Juliet : dostthou fall upon thy face? Thou wilt fallbackward when thy hast more wit, wiltnot thou, Jule? The sun goes to its zenith then fallsbackward (back down) and the sun isoften said to have a face. 19. Act III, scene vRomeo bids farewell to Juliet Juliet: Wilt thou be gone?...... Romeo: I must be gone and live---or stayand die. ,Ahh, yes....The problem in a nutshell! 20. Romeo and JulietAct 1, scene 1, lines 1-2Sampson: Gregory, on my word, well not carry coals.Gregory: No, for then we should becolliers. 21. Coal vs. the Sun Coal can be mined and sold. Coal can produce heat when burned; it isdenser in energy than wood. Using coal can give people a chance to use awood forest for something else, like food. Coal depletes, the sun doesnt England had a lot of coal, but not always a lotof sun! 22. Coal started to be burned in England around 1100,but that was in a very limited way. Coal production and consumption grew until around 1600, when coal overtook wood as the main source of fuel in England. In effect, during Shakespeares lifetime, England had said Good-bye to the sun, just as Romeo had to say good-bye to Juliet. England was the first country to leave the sun as its main source of fuel. I guess Shakespeare noticed it and got a bit concerned. 23. Once you start using fossil fuels, it is hard tostop, of course. People and economies become verydependent on them. Fossil fuels are very powerful and offer manyadvantages. Of course, they have some disadvantages too. 24. The tomb scene, Act 5, scene iii Romeo keeps saying that Juliet looks like she isalive. Ah, dear Juliet, Why art thou yet sofair? The sun shines just as brightly, but we havegotten away from the economic connectionwith the sun, so it doesnt function for us. 25. The tomb means some sort ofeconomic change, probably.I am not quite sure exactly what it means.An end of one economic paradigm for mankindand the start of another?It looks a bit scary but this kind of change wouldhappen over centuries or millennia, so its not asbad as it seems at first. 26. The opening quote, in full: I would also suggest that the two nativeHermetic philosophers, John Dee and RobertFludd, ought not to be excluded from theattentions of those interested in the EnglishRenaissance. It may be because they havebeen excluded that the secret of Shakespearehas been missed.-----page 353, The Art ofMemory by Frances Yates 27. Thank you for viewing this presentationMy ideas are all original. I am an academic researcher,but my work is not in the standard vein.Basically, although I think the secret play delineated byscenes with Romeo and Juliet not interacting withothers is very logical and elegant as an interpretivesolution for this play..the reactions of some professionals in the field tomy work is quite negative. To say they quite hate itwould be an understatement! 28. (enter, wailing!!!)I cant really figure out whyprofessionals in the field of literaturedont like my elegant and simplesolution to the puzzle of Romeo andJuliet. ------moi 29. Juliet is the sun! What could be more elegant and mysteriousand dramatic than to have the real identity ofJuliet revealed over centuries to a Mankindbasically still in love with her? I am happy to report that in one country, at least,my work has gotten some favorable attention.And my paper, on Romeo and Juliet, was evenpublished there in an academic journal. 30. How did I come up with this idea?I got this idea about Juliet really being the realsun when I made a decision to investigate theimagery of fossil fuels in literature a few yearsago. I noticed the first 2 lines of Romeo andJuliet and I spent about 8 months wonderingwhy he opened the play with 2 people talkingabout coal. It looked so strange! 31. RosalineNot being able to find anymore direct references to coal in Romeo andJuliet, I spent about 8 or 9 months WONDERING about the first two lines.Finally I read Barbara Freeses Coal: A Human History and I found out theQUEEN ELIZABETH had complained about coal smoke in London in the late1500s! Coal smoke is intensely thick, sooty, and black. We dont get to see itas the Elizabethans saw it because our modern power plants have scrubbersand filters.Then I checked the play for words like fume smoke black etc. BINGO!They were there! All clustered around Rosaline, the cold dark woman whocan never satisfy Romeo!!Shakespeare was a master at allegory; I knew that from the sonnets.If Rosaline is coal, I wondered aloud, then WHO is Juliet?? 32. The answer hit me! JULIET IS THE SUNI am an obscure but working professional in the field of literature. I have a B.A.from Harvard University and an M.A. from the University of Chicago, and bothof my degrees are in English Literature.I have published a handful of papers. I have always enjoyed my work.BUT IN ALL MY YEARS OF INTERPRETIVE WORK, I HAD NEVER EVEREXPERIENCED ANYTHING LIKE THIS BEFORE! IT WAS A JOLT OR A SHOCK, AFLASH. I ALMOST FELL ONTO THE FLOOR! 33. A brief note: My husband suggested that well not carrycoals means a Hermetic (secret, veiled)statement to the effect that someday we wontuse them economically anymore. Also, maybeShakespeare didnt totally approve of coal. I confess that I had not thought of that, andhad just assumed the topic of coal wasintroduced by these 2 lines. 34. Thank you to my dear husband! You had the brilliant idea to interpret wellnot carry coals as a Hermetic statement. You ordered Barbara Freeses Coal: A HumanHistory for me! You listened to me when I couldnt figure thepuzzle out. You read my paper and offered suggestions You even asked me to turn my idea into anovel! (Gasp!) 35. The End And Thank you to Mr. William Shakespeare,a fascinating, ghostly, mysterious,scientifically-aware, dramatically-mindedinventive genius. I have been able to spend many happy hourswandering through the hallways of his mind,as I think his works can be called that. Juliet is the sun