Contextualizing Shakespeare’s Tragic Suicides:Complexity And Confrontation In Early Modern England

Responding to the early-modern rediscovery of the phenomenon of self-murder,Shakespeare writes prolifically about suicide in his tragedies.Numerous topics and ideas surface in these suicide scenes,which in general create a picture of complexity.In fact,Shakespeare’s suicides have evoked a series of debates about their variety and ambiguity.Existing literature can be roughly divided into two groups.One focuses on the issue of morality and tries to figure out the personal attitude of the playwright behind the variety of incidents.The other group views the tragic suicides as objective reflections of the early-modern English environment,exploring the diversity of contradictory ideas implied.Siding with the second group,this paper finds a research gap from the previous studies: it is correct to take note of the complexity of background behind Shakespeare’s suicides,but current literature has rarely clearly illustrated“what” confrontations,in particular,are reflected and “how” the playwright manages to represent them dramatically.To answer these questions,this paper addresses the issue of complexity and confrontation in Shakespeare’s tragic suicides from three angles: religion,Renaissance culture,and politics.Based on the concerns of current literature,this paper makes clear two kinds of complexities and confrontations: the discrepancies inherent in every single dimension and the connection and clashes among mainstream theological,humanistic,and political ideas.Locating Shakespeare’s suicides in the early-modern landscape,this paper discusses these questions by utilizing documentary records and historical researches.The religious world of early modern England was characterized by its ambiguity.The gap between the Catholics and Protestants expanded,and confrontations between theological doctrines and popular beliefs were not rare either.Numerous ideas are evoked in between the lines that Shakespeare uses to describe what happens before a suicide,during a suicide,and after a suicide.Apart from examining exactly what religious ambiguities are involved,the first part of this paper also tries to clarify Shakespeare’s excellent ways of presenting such theological complexity and confrontation.Stepping away from taking sides,the playwright not only adds in references of different religious groups,but also creates blunt discussions around different ideas.Then,this paper turns to examine the logical inconsistency of some Renaissance values concerning the relationship between men and women in Shakespeare’s suicides,as well as some obvious conflicts between humanistic ideas and the religious tradition.The couple suicides in Shakespearean tragedies are closely associated with topics such as love and eros.It is noted that under the double influence of the Reformation and the Renaissance,dualistic discourses were ubiquitous when it came to the conceptualization of love,marriage,women,and sex.While idealization emerged,condemnation and denial existed as well.Mirroring these complexities and confrontations,the playwright weaves opposite views and ideas into his suicide scenes generously with dramatic designs.Lastly,this paper focuses on topical discussions with regard to the early-modern political life.With Queen Elizabeth and King James I as the main focuses of its political concerns,early modern England paid much attention to dialogues such as the problem of princely virtue and corruption,the conflict between monarchy and Republicanism,and the nostalgia for the queen along with the dissatisfaction towards James.Shakespeare’s tragic suicides have presented such topics generously.While the confrontation between political opinions and religion as well as the association between politics and Renaissance ideas is illustrated,there are also different opinions regarding the same political concerns.Through examining the suicidal motivation of Shakespeare’s characters and their dialogues and actions during suicide,this paper finds that in order to echo the contemporary political life,Shakespeare excellently changes the character of his heroes,adds in new plots,and evokes key images.