Bargains with Fate : Psychological Crises and Conflicts in Shakespeare and His Plays

The enduring appeal of Shakespeare's works derives largely from the fact that they contain brilliantly drawn characters. Interpretations of these characters are products of changing modes of thought, and thus past explanations of their behavior, including Shakespeare's, no longer satisfy us. In this work, Bernard J. Paris, an eminent Shakespearean scholar, shows how Shakespeare endowed his tragic heroes with enduring human qualities that have made them relevant to people of later eras. Bargains with Fate employs a psychoanalytic approach inspired by the theories of Karen Horney to analyze Shakespeare's four major tragedies and the personality that can be inferred from all of his works. This compelling study first examines the tragedies as dramas about individuals with conflicts like our own who are in a state of crisis due to the breakdown of their bargains with fate, a belief that they can magically control their destinies by living up to the dictates of their defensive strategies. Filled with bold hypotheses supported by carefully detailed accounts, this innovative study is a resource for students and scholars of Shakespeare, and for those interested in literature as a source of psychological insight. The author's combination of literary and psychoanalytic perspectives guides us to a humane understanding of Shakespeare and his protagonists, and, in turn, to a more profound knowledge of ourselves and human behavior. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Editors Page Foreword Acknowledgments Table of Contents Preface to theTransaction Edition Introduction Bargains with Fate The Reciprocal Relation between Psychoanalytic Theory and Literature Psychoanalysis, Shakespeare, and Me The Psychoanalytic Study of Character Shakespeare’s Personality I. THE MAJOR TRAGEDIES 1. Bargains, Defenses, and Cultural Codes Historical versus Psychological Perspectives Karen Horney: Introduction Interpersonal Strategies of Defense Intrapsychic Strategies of Defense Cultural Codes in Shakespeare Cultural Codes and Defensive Strategies 2. Hamlet Hamlet’s Problems “This Too Too Solid Flesh” Hamlet and the Ghost Hamlet’s Conflicts in Act 2 Hamlet and the Players “To Be or Not To Be” “Get Thee to a Nunnery” “Yet Have I in Me Something Dangerous” The Closet Scene More Oscillations In the Hands of Providence A Wish-Fulfillment Ending 3. Othello Iago’s Character Iago’s Crisis The Psychological Functions of Iago’s Plot Othello Triumphant Othello’s Vulnerability Othello’s Transformation An Honorable Murderer? Bewitched Desdemona “The Inclining Desdemona” “His Scorn I Approve” “Who Hath Done This Deed?” 4. King Lear The Love Test Cordelia’s Compulsiveness The Collapse of Lear’s Fantasy “To Plainness Honour’s Bound” Rhetoric versus Mimesis Blows and Defenses “In Such a Night as This!” “Unaccommodated Man”: Lear and “Poor Tom” “Let Copulation Thrive” Paradise Regained Spiritual Rebirth? “All’s Cheerless, Dark, and Deadly” The Death of Cordelia Conclusion 5. Macbeth Macbeth’s Inner Conflicts—Before the Murder Macbeth and Lady Macbeth Macbeth’s Inner Conflicts—After the Murder The Murder of Banquo Macbeth’s Transformation The Villain as Hero The Death of Macbeth II. SHAKESPEARE’S PERSONALITY 6. Shakespeare’s Conflicts “A Deeply Divided Man” Shakespeare’s Treatment of Cultural Codes as Expressions of His Personality Defenses and Inner Conflicts Martial and Manly Honor The Threat of the Machiavels The Fate of Perfectionists Inner Conflicts in Measure for Measure 7. “What Fools These Mortals Be”: Self-Effacement in the Sonnets, the Comedies, Troilus and Cressida, and Antony and Cleopatra The Sonnets Two Gentlemen of Verona The Merchant of Venice Universalizing His Plight Two Gentlemen Again Love’s Labour’s Lost A Midsummer-Night’s Dream Much Ado About Nothing As You Like It Twelfth Night All’s Well That Ends Well Troilus and Cressida Antony and Cleopatra 8. Shakespeare’s Leap of Faith: From the Tragedies to the Romances Timon of Athens Pericles Cymbeline The Winter’s Tale Henry VIII 9. The Tempest: Shakespeare’s Ideal Solution The Function of Prospero’s Magic Prospero’s Cruelty to Ariel and Caliban The Noble Prospero? No Longer Divided Notes Works Cited Index Filled with bold hypotheses supported by carefully detailed accounts, this innovative study is a resource for students and scholars of Shakespeare, and for those interested in literature as a source of psychological insight. The author's combination of literary and psychoanalytic perspectives guides us to a humane understanding of Shakespeare and his protagonists, and, in turn, to a more profound knowledge of ourselves and human behavior. (Publisher)