Rodricks: Angelos Agonistes, the Mosby Matter and the stuff of Shakespeare

The Shakespeare canon would not exist had the deeds of its many characters — mad kings, rivalrous offspring, treacherous lords, treasonous courtiers — never been exposed or imagined. We would be deprived of understanding much of human nature had Shakespeare’s storytelling been restricted, by some supernatural force, to the fanciful and Arcadian, that is, no hatred, no tragedy, no “fall of man.” But, as the bard said, “All the world’s a stage,” and the thing that animated any of Shakespeare’s tragic plays — jealousy, prejudice, love, revenge, egomania, lust for power — remains alive right here in 21st century Baltimore. For evidence look no further than to spectacles playing out in our courts: Angelos Agonistes and the Marilyn Mosby matter.