Shakespeare I make no claim to be a Shakespeare scholar. Even so, I think a case can be made that Shakespeare was opposed to a key aspect of what has become the modern liberal philosophy. One piece of evidence was discussed recently by Lawrence Auster. It’s a quote from the play King Lear, in which Albany speaks harshly of the evil daughter of Lear, Goneril, with the words:
This runs directly against the grain of modern liberalism. A key idea of liberalism is that we are made truly human when we choose who we are through our own individual will and reason. Therefore, liberals prize the idea of an individual “freedom” in which there are no limits to our individual will. For liberals, individuals are free when they are not impeded in their will by an inborn nature, or by tradition, or by inherited identities. Albany, though, does not praise Goneril for having liberated herself from her unchosen nature. Instead, he condemns such a project as likely to lead to vicious outcomes. He talks of a person who chooses to “sliver and disbranch from her material sap” as withering – which is a similar thought to the more modern conservative view that people who are made rootless suffer a loss from being denatured. [All of which reminds me of the fate of Alice James, sister of the famous novelist Henry. She did not relish her spinsterhood as a freedom from a “biological destiny” as liberals might have it, but confessed that it could not be “anything else than a cruel and unnatural fate for a woman to live alone, to have no one to care and ‘do for’ daily is not only a sorrow, but a sterilizing process”. When she spent time with her brothers, she was happy to lose her “floating particle sense”.] There is another passage from Shakespeare which appears to run directly counter to the liberal concept of freedom from an inherited nature. The quote is from the play Coriolanus. In this play, Coriolanus is unjustly expelled from Rome and so allies himself with Rome’s enemy to seek revenge. However, just prior to his attack on the city, his Roman family visits him to plead with him to call off the attack. At first, Coriolanus tries to ignore their pleas. He tries to brace himself by telling himself that,
Shakespeare here uses language which is very familiar to modern liberalism. The idea of being self-authored, or of writing your own script, is part of the terminology of our own times. But Shakespeare does not intend us to sympathise with this attitude. It is clear from the text that natural bonds and loyalties, including the ties of kinship and patriotism, are rightly felt to be stronger than the merely personal will or desires (for revenge in this case) of an atomised individual. Coriolanus, for instance, at the sight of his wife, is reminded of the “bond and privilege” of nature; at the sight of his son he declares that “my young boy / Hath an aspect of intercession which / Great Nature cries ‘Deny Not’”. One writer on Shakespeare, Anthony Law, has summarised this passage from Shakespeare as follows:
In Shakespeare’s play the forces of autonomous individualism lose out. Coriolanus is reminded of his natural loyalties and brokers a peace. His nobility is restored. Unfortunately, in England and across the West, there was a radically different outcome and one, I think it is safe to say, which would not have pleased our most famous playwright. Comments:2
Posted by Fred Scrooby on Wed, 30 Nov 2005 18:57 | # “Doesn’t it sometimes happen that a man’s nature makes him a sojourner everywhere and a native nowhere?” (—Johannes Climacus) Doubtless it does, Johannes, but I think the point of the entry was that most men aren’t like that but are, in their innermost natures, native to somewhere. What did you think of your queen’s “get-tough” comments on the North Africans, to the effect they had to start assimilating or leave Denmark? I never knew a thing about your queen until she spoke out. Now I love her. You are fortunate to have a clear-sighted queen who loves her people. As a result of this good queen’s forthrightness the Danes have tightened up their immigration rules, no? I realize it’s still a problem but less than before, right? If only some other royals I could name would follow her example! (Ahem ... are you reading this, Prince Charles? ...) (And no, I don’t want the North Africans already in Denmark to mix with the Danish population and change the race there but that’s another subject. One step at a time.) 3
Posted by Melba Peachtoast on Wed, 30 Nov 2005 22:27 | # Freddy Scrooby! You know I’m simply SURROUNDED by MILES of wallaby-infested outback here, and am a little naive as well, but even this simple Aussie gal can see that Climacus—as he calls himself—is using a pseudonym! He’s probably not Danish at all! All of you, if you are anywhere near Australia, do drop by the ranch. It’s lonesome listening to the dingoes at night, and also very, very dull. Well, thanks for a pukka blog. Tie me kangaroo down, 4
Posted by Fred Scrooby on Wed, 30 Nov 2005 22:54 | # Melba I thought you were a guy! You’re a gal??? ... Anyway, so I fell for Johannes Climacus’ little trick, and he’s not really a Dane—OK, makes no difference because I wanted to get that plug in for the Danish queen nonetheless. LOVE that royal, and just think—she’s inherited none of Hamlet’s indecisiveness: makes up her mind and forges ahead! Post a comment:
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Posted by Johannes Climacus on Wed, 30 Nov 2005 18:04 | #
Our natures are not our own to remake. Agreed. Doesn’t it sometimes happen that a man’s nature makes him a sojourner everywhere and a native nowhere? Such a man would be neither a conservative nor a liberal, being cast out from both camps—by his nature. Or is this also a lie?