Despair in Shakespeare’s Four Great Tragedies
This study examines discussions of religious despair, from its emergence in the fourth century to the Reformation, taking note of how religious despair evolved into secular despair that transpired into a habit of thought in the Elizabethan England. Then...
Despair in Shakespeare’s Four Great Tragedies
This study examines discussions of religious despair, from its emergence in the fourth century to the Reformation, taking note of how religious despair evolved into secular despair that transpired into a habit of thought in the Elizabethan England. Then follows a survey of despair in Shakespeare’s four great tragedies, in which despair underlies the suffering and inner conflicts of the protagonist.
Despair was warned against as a damnable sin as well as a punishment in itself by the early Christian church. Desert Fathers in Egypt counseled against extreme sorrow over one’s sin, citing the Bible. Consistently discussed by the theologians throughout the Middle Ages, religious despair was increasingly secularized and developed into the despair topos in literature including psychological and medical texts in early modern England.
Both Petrarch and Calvin, rather than eschewing sinfulness of despair, incorporated ‘worldly sorrow’ and despair into the experience of learning and faith. Petrarch can be credited with recovering the human sorrow which was suppressed during the medieval era by transforming acedia the sin into human sorrow. More importantly, his conflict between the secular glory and Christian faith contributed to casting a new light on the human condition and sorrow, thus laying the groundwork for the efflorescence of sorrow and secular despair in literature after his time. Calvin's doctrine of predestination required one to attain the assurance of salvation by consulting one’s conscience, thus driving one into deeper despair. Calvin acknowledged that fear and trembling, which likely escalated into despair, was inevitable in the course of attaining true faith, thus rendering despair more of an inward experience.
Hamlet intends to depict the limits of revenge by pitting Hamlet's motive for revenge against religious despair, which effects the experience of hell as well as the anticipation of eternal damnation. Hamlet reveals a vague feeling that he may be subject to damnation by killing Claudius while his filial duty relentlessly instigates him to take revenge his father, the dilemma of which leads him to despair.
In Othello and King Lear, despair centers around the pagan ethic with emphasis on honor and shame. Othello regards Desdemona’s love for him and her fidelity as certifying his honor that compensates for his blackness. Enthralled by jealousy that Desdemona is unfaithful, he despairs of having lost his honor and faces his black identity with painful reluctance. His final despair, however, consists in the loss of his love only after he realizes it by killing Desdemona.
King Lear whose pride is humiliated by Cordelia’s plainness refuses to acknowledge his fault at first. It is not until he is degenerated into nothing by shaming himself that he despairingly comes upon “a sovereign shame” which constitutes the loss of honor through his mistreatment of Cordelia.
The boundless fear that overwhelms Macbeth after he murdered Duncan can be attributed to the afflicted conscience and the prospect of damnation, which in turn gives Macbeth the motivation for further sin. What torments him harshly is not religious despair but “nothingness,” the feeling of existential meaninglessness. He resolves to seek his own salvation and overcome “nothing,” only to feel that his entity is fleeting.
Despair in Shakespeare’s Four Great Tragedies
This study examines discussions of religious despair, from its emergence in the fourth century to the Reformation, taking note of how religious despair evolved into secular despair that transpired into a habit of thought in the Elizabethan England. Then follows a survey of despair in Shakespeare’s four great tragedies, in which despair underlies the suffering and inner conflicts of the protagonist.
Despair was warned against as a damnable sin as well as a punishment in itself by the early Christian church. Desert Fathers in Egypt counseled against extreme sorrow over one’s sin, citing the Bible. Consistently discussed by the theologians throughout the Middle Ages, religious despair was increasingly secularized and developed into the despair topos in literature including psychological and medical texts in early modern England.
Both Petrarch and Calvin, rather than eschewing sinfulness of despair, incorporated ‘worldly sorrow’ and despair into the experience of learning and faith. Petrarch can be credited with recovering the human sorrow which was suppressed during the medieval era by transforming acedia the sin into human sorrow. More importantly, his conflict between the secular glory and Christian faith contributed to casting a new light on the human condition and sorrow, thus laying the groundwork for the efflorescence of sorrow and secular despair in literature after his time. Calvin's doctrine of predestination required one to attain the assurance of salvation by consulting one’s conscience, thus driving one into deeper despair. Calvin acknowledged that fear and trembling, which likely escalated into despair, was inevitable in the course of attaining true faith, thus rendering despair more of an inward experience.
Hamlet intends to depict the limits of revenge by pitting Hamlet's motive for revenge against religious despair, which effects the experience of hell as well as the anticipation of eternal damnation. Hamlet reveals a vague feeling that he may be subject to damnation by killing Claudius while his filial duty relentlessly instigates him to take revenge his father, the dilemma of which leads him to despair.
In Othello and King Lear, despair centers around the pagan ethic with emphasis on honor and shame. Othello regards Desdemona’s love for him and her fidelity as certifying his honor that compensates for his blackness. Enthralled by jealousy that Desdemona is unfaithful, he despairs of having lost his honor and faces his black identity with painful reluctance. His final despair, however, consists in the loss of his love only after he realizes it by killing Desdemona.
King Lear whose pride is humiliated by Cordelia’s plainness refuses to acknowledge his fault at first. It is not until he is degenerated into nothing by shaming himself that he despairingly comes upon “a sovereign shame” which constitutes the loss of honor through his mistreatment of Cordelia.
The boundless fear that overwhelms Macbeth after he murdered Duncan can be attributed to the afflicted conscience and the prospect of damnation, which in turn gives Macbeth the motivation for further sin. What torments him harshly is not religious despair but “nothingness,” the feeling of existential meaninglessness. He resolves to seek his own salvation and overcome “nothing,” only to feel that his entity is fleeting.
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