Sorrow from Waste of Good--Probing into the Essence of Shakespearean Tragedy through King Lear.doc

sorrow from waste of good:probing into the essence of shakespearean tragedy through king lear美好逝去，悲从中来以李尔王探索莎士比亚悲剧的精髓摘 要自古希腊悲剧家埃斯库罗斯、索福克勒斯和欧里庇得斯开始创作最早的悲剧以来，每一位热心的读者都情不自禁地不断探索，试图理解悲剧的精髓。之后莎士比亚开创了悲剧的新时代，这个探索孜孜不倦，永不停息。本文正是一次受莎翁最短的悲剧麦克白的启发，想通过研读莎翁最凄惨的悲剧李尔王来探索莎剧精髓的大胆尝试。本文首先列举出了过去研究莎士比亚悲剧的尝试，之后提出“美好逝去，悲从中来”是莎翁悲剧的精髓，而这一想法在李尔王的分析中得到佐证。同时，为了更加有代表性地概括莎翁悲剧的精髓，本文对于莎士比亚的四大悲剧也有所阐述。本文并没有包罗万象地阐述莎士比亚精髓，然而却强有力地提出了以下见解，即莎士比亚悲剧的悲源于“美好逝去”，而心灵的净化得益于强烈的“悲从中来。”关键词：美好逝去，精髓，莎士比亚悲剧，李尔王abstract ever since the first tragedies were written by the ancient greek dramatists, most notably by aeschylus, sophocles and euripides, the quest to comprehend the essence of tragedy has been inflicted voluntarily upon every ardent reader. when shakespeare ushered in a new era of tragedy, this quest has never ceased and it would seem to be unceasable. the essay is a daring attempt inspired by his shortest tragedy macbeth to probe into the essence of shakespearean tragedy through a detailed study of king lear, his bleakest play. with an introduction of various attempts to interpret tragedy in the past, the essay then goes on to propose “the sorrow from waste of good” as the essence of shakespearean tragedy which is echoed in the analysis of king lear. a general treatment of his four great tragedies is also included to summarize the essence of shakespearean tragedy. the essay is not an all encompassing attempt to exhaust all the approaches to explore the essence of tragedy. yet it does make a strong case that the sadness of the tragedy comes from the sorrow of the waste of either sheer or partial good and that catharsis is achieved when ones soul is purged through a poignant sense of waste.key words: waste of good, essence, shakespearean tragedies, king leariiicontents摘 要iiabstract.iiichapter 1 introduction111 inspiration from macbeth.112 from macbeth to shakespearean tragedies 1chapter 2 attempts to unravel mysteries of tragedy22.1 what is tragedy.22.1.1 nietzsches the birth of tragedy.22.1.2 aristotlethe definition of tragedy22.1.3 pierre corneilleredefinition of tragedy. .22.2 what is essential to it. .32.2.1 wordscore of tragedy. .32.2.2 death - the essential element. .3chapter 3 essence of shakespearean tragedies .43.1 a summary of the substance of shakespearean tragedies.43.2 emotions shakespearean tragedies evoke.5chapter 4 ultimate in tragedy king lear64.1 failure to please vs irritable disposition banishment.64.1.1 one asks “which of you shall we say doth love us most?”.64.1.2 one answers “she herself is the dowry”.74.2 filial ingratitude vs irritable disposition madness.84.3 daughter and tigers.94.4 the repeating of the subplotgloster 104.5 clear sight in blindness104.6 reunion - joy and grief.11chapter 5 conclusion12references13acknowledgements14chapter 1 introduction1.1 inspiration from macbethlast semester, i took a course on macbeth in which i was totally fascinated by the conflicts between good and evil, light and darkness, grace and sin presented through the tragic downfall of a noble general whose ambition kept surging until he himself was drowned in his own ambition. i witnessed a respectable general, blinded by a false sense of security, whose consciousness was being gnawed away by his mounting ambition, stooped to murder the benign king to satisfy his thirst for power. vaulting ambition devouring the milk of human kindness, took possession of him who was turned into a heartless butcher and tyrant. out of fear of losing the throne so hard won, he then went on killing innocent people, not excluding the tender lives of children. consequently he also murdered even his sleep “the balm of hurt minds, natures second course”, and the joys and happiness from all of his friends and family that a man of age should enjoy. what a waste! a man who has the potential of greatness ended up in self destruction because of his tragic trait. 1.2 from macbeth to shakespearean tragediesi cant help but wonder why macbeth is so sad or rather why tragedies are so sad. is a sad ending the be all and end all of tragedies as most people perceive? the answer is far more than that. macbeth is an exceptional man like all of shakespearean tragic heroes, possessing strength and valor, admirably saving the country from traitors hands, yet ending up being a usurper himself. his tragic trait or as aristotle terms it “hamertia” which is his overleaping ambition is responsible for his downfall. he succumbs to it and in turn is destroyed by it. the inspiration from macbeth, if applicable to his other tragedies could be proven a valid way to approach the essence of shakespearean tragedies. yet this essay is not an attempt to exhaust all of shakespeares tragedies which would be a mammoth task. i therefore singled out his bleakest tragedies king lear and offered some treatments of his four great tragedies in chapter three, aiming to probe into this cosmic question why his tragedies are so sad.it dawned on me that the waste of good is what shakespearean tragedies fundamentally share and is what bring about the catharsis on readers. evil and good, inextricably interwoven together, create an irresolvable conflict in which the destruction of evil can only be achieved by the destruction of the hero, and of other innocent lives, thus creating a tragic sense of waste.chapter 2 attempts to unravel mysteries of tragedyto learn why shakespearean tragedy is so sad requires a look into the nature and function of tragedy in general. what is tragedy and what is essential to it? arduous efforts had been made to unlock its mystery, resulting in responses that are variant even among the most prominent scholars. 2.1 what is tragedy?2.1.1 nietzsches1 the birth of tragedynietzsche dedicated his famous early book, the birth of tragedy, to a discussion of the origins of greek tragedy. he traced the evolution of tragedy from early rituals, through the joining of apollonian and dionysian forces. nietzsche viewed tragedy as the art form of sensual acceptance of the terrors of reality.2.1.2 aristotlethe definition of tragedy2the philosopher aristotle theorized in his work the poetics that tragedy results in a catharsis (emotional cleansing) of healing for the audience through their experience of these emotions in response to the suffering of the characters in the drama. he considers it superior when a character passes from good fortune to bad rather than the reverse. the philosopher aristotle in his work mentioned above (the poetics) gave the following definition in ancient greek to the word tragedy which means tragedy is an imitation of an action that is admirable, complete, and possesses magnitude; in language made pleasurable, each of its species separated in different parts; performed by actors, not through narration; effecting through pity and fear the purification of such emotions.2.1.3 pierre corneilleredefinition of tragedyfor much of the 17th century, pierre corneille, who made his mark on the world of tragedy with plays like mede (1635) and le cid (1636), was the most successful writer of french tragedies. corneilles tragedies were strangely un-tragic (his first version of le cid was even listed as a tragicomedy), for they had happy endings. in his theoretical works on theater, corneille redefined both comedy and tragedy around the following suppositions:the stage - in both comedy and tragedy - should feature noble characters (this would eliminate many low-characters, typical of the farce, from corneilles comedies). noble characters should not be depicted as vile (reprehensible actions are generally due to non-noble characters in corneilles plays). tragedy deals with affairs of the state (wars, dynastic marriages); comedy deals with love. for a work to be tragic, it need not have a tragic ending. although aristotle says that catharsis (purgation of emotion) should be the goal of tragedy, this is only an ideal. in conformity with the moral codes of the period, plays should not show evil being rewarded or nobility being degraded. 2.2 what is essential to it?2.2.1 wordscore of tragedysince we usually read tragedies rather than see theatrical productions and also because our reading is usually in translation, we often miss the following elements which are additional aids to interpretation beyond the script of the play: scenery, inflection of actors voices, actors gestures and postures, costumes and masks, singing, dancing, sounds of the original language and its various poetic rhythms. these handicaps, however, should not diminish ones willingness to appreciate tragedy. one still has the most essential element of drama, the words, the playwrights most important medium of communication. according to aristotle, the plot is the soul of tragedy and the plot is communicated to the audience primarily by means of words.2.2.2 death - the essential elementincluded in the elements common to all of shakespeares tragedies is the death of the hero. by contrast, sophoclean tragedy demands either the death or moral destruction of the hero. at the conclusion of oedipus tyrannus, the once-proud, morally-blind king plucks out his eyes. he is doomed to spend his remaining days a wandering, sightless beggar, guided at every painful step by his daughter, antigone. while such an ending satisfies the requirements of greek tragedy, no such ending could possibly be called shakespearean. shakespeares tragedies, without exception, end with the hero dead: othello stabs himself; romeo and juliet, victims of suicide, are carried to their prince on slabs; marc antony and cleopatra end their own lives; brutus falls on his sword; hamlet is killed with a poison-tipped sword; macbeth is beheaded in a fight; king lear dies of heartbreak (and over-exertion); and titus andronicus and coriolanus both die by the sword. in not one of shakespeares tragedies does the hero survive. hence, it is possible to propose the death of the hero as essential to labeling a tragedy shakespearean.chapter 3 essence of shakespearean tragedies 3.1 a summary of the substance of shakespearean tragediesas bradley3 proposed in his book, “a tragedy is a story of human actions producing exceptional calamity and ending in the death of such a man.” the tragic story is mainly concerned with a single individual of high estate, “the hero”: a king, a prince, a general, etc. usually, his reputation will precede him before he makes an entrance into the play. his name will be spoken of with admiration and exaltation. a good example can be found in scene two of macbeth4, when the sergeant describes macbeths fearlessness and success in battle. “for brave macbeth, - well he deserves that name” 4 within the first two acts or so, one becomes aware of a driving force within the hero that is almost, if not entirely, obsessive in nature. such an obsession will lead inevitably to the inner struggle tormenting the hero. one witnesses both macbeths potential for greatness and his overleaping ambition. similarly, in king lear, 5 one witnesses both his kindness and generosity and his irritable nature which so easily spins out of control to have so cruelly wronged cordelia. due to the misreading of the supernatural messages or accident and chance, the hero forms a false sense of security on which he operates. his fatal tragic trait, which is also his greatness, will prompt him into action in certain circumstances. actions beget actions with a series of such actions claiming the lives of many and driving away all forms of support for the hero, leaving him facing the opposing force alone. often in this situation, the hero realizes his error when it is too late. knowing that he alone is to blame, he alone has erred and accepting it, is absolutely necessary in shakespearean tragedy, and is called tragic recognition. 6 tragic recognition inevitably takes place when there is no opportunity or time to correct the error. finally comes the disaster or catastrophe in which he perishes.those heroes are endowed with a fatal gift which is accompanied by a touch of greatness. they may be passionate and fearless, yet this very passion and courage, unbridled by circumstances tend to prey on them and unleash the devastating control over them. passion turns into ambition and courage into brutality. their greatness, through action or other causes, can be so easily distorted into a monster which devours their conscience and leads to their tragic fall. 3.2 emotions shakespearean tragedies evokea sense of waste is immediately aroused by the death of those prominent figures with exceptional greatness. one feels simply the tragic emotions of fear and pity.macbeth, a man of great daring and courage, who once saved the country, ended up committing hideous crimes against his country and being beheaded by macduff. what a waste!hamlet, an upright young man possessing genius, was dragged into revenge by the ghost of his father and died an immature death from the wound cut by a poison-tipped sword. what a waste! othello, a great and honorable general, won desdemonas love with his noble deeds and heroic qualities which even overrides his blackness, as demonstrated by desdemonas profession, “and to his honors and his valiant parts, did my soul and fortunes consecrate.” 7 yet because of his trusting nature he was cheated by iago to be obsessed with jealousy out of which he perpetrated the terrible deed of murdering his beloved innocent wife and later on, when he was aware of the truth, committed suicide. what a waste! king lear, generous and unsuspicious, possessing an open and kind nature, was banished by two of his own daughters on whom he has devoted his fatherly love and protection and on whom he has given all. when he reunited with his favorite daughter who loved him most dearly and truly despite the wrong he inflicted on her, his happiness was just transient. it was immediately followed by the departure for good between lear and his true daughter. after he realized, having experienced destitution himself, the plight of the poor and the abuse of power by the rich and knew what he could do to change the social evils on re-ascending the throne, he died from agony and a broken heart. what a waste!even lear was lamenting “why should man be so, if this beauty and greatness only tortures itself and throws itself away?” 5 tragedy is the typical form of this mystery because the greatness of soul which it shows oppressed, conflicting, and destroyed is the highest existence in our minds. it forces the mystery upon us, and it makes us realize vividly the worth of that which is wasted, and that such waste of potential greatness, nobility of soul and of humanity is truly the tragedy of human existence.this is, however, not an attempt to propose an all-encompassing examination of all of shakespearean tragedies the workload of which will be too overwhelming. this is merely one approach to probe into the essence of shakespearean tragedies through his bleakest play. chapter 4 ultimate in tragedy king learreputed to be the “ultimate in tragedy”, king lear presents before us evil in its greatest abundance. whats more tragic than the appalling story of an old and generous king driven to madness? its no exaggeration at all that lear is the bleakest of all shakespeares plays. a.c. bradley thought lear to be “shakespeares greatest achievement” 3; william hazlitt declared it “the best of all shakespeares plays”. therefore, a careful study of this masterpiece will unlock the mystery of what makes the tragedy so tragic. bradley wisely said “in no other of his tragedies does humanity appear more pitiably infirm or more hopelessly mad.” 3 a comparison of lear with othello which is considered by bradley to be “the most painfully exciting and the most terrible” would shed some light on the profundity of its truth. cruel as iagos malignity against othello, an innocent stranger, out of sheer envy is, it is by no means comparable to the brutality of the son of gloster and the daughters of lear whose “mouth should tear this hand for lifting food tot?” pitiable as othellos suffering is, his strength and youth render it far less heartrending than the miseries inflicted upon those of helpless age who are supposed to be blessed by the endless love of their children and who are, on the contrary, tormented by “filial ingratitude” 5. what makes this most pathetic play in which evil assumes the most inhumane form? to answer this, a study from the very beginning is necessary. 4.1 failure to please vs irritable disposition banishment4.11 one asks “which of you shall we say doth love us most?” 5“this hideous rashness” 5 to divide the kingdom according to how much his three daughters declare their love for him has sown the seeds of destruction for lear. first of all, to give away all of his power yet wishing to be loved and respected for who he is instead of what he has in this society where justice is simply what the powerful say and power and wealth make all the difference is too nave, inevitably leading to his disillusion after he banished cordelia who is the only chance to make lears plan possible. secondly, what kind of father would appeal for protestation of love from their daughters? just as a simple yet heavenly true answer doesnt necessarily suggest lack of genuine love, an effusive and impressive speech doesnt