Book contents
- Holding a Mirror up to Nature
- Holding a Mirror up to Nature
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Shame and Guilt in Personality and Culture
- Chapter 2 The Cycle of Violence in the History Plays
- Chapter 3 Fathers and Mothers
- Chapter 4 Make War, Not Love
- Chapter 5 The Motives of Malignity
- Chapter 6 Moral Nihilism and the Paralysis of Action:
- Chapter 7 Apocalyptic Violence
- Chapter 8 Transcending Morality, Preventing Violence
- Chapter 9 The Form and Pressure of Shakespeare’s Time and Ours
- Acknowledgments
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 5 - The Motives of Malignity
Shame and Masculinity in Othello and Macbeth
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 November 2021
- Holding a Mirror up to Nature
- Holding a Mirror up to Nature
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Shame and Guilt in Personality and Culture
- Chapter 2 The Cycle of Violence in the History Plays
- Chapter 3 Fathers and Mothers
- Chapter 4 Make War, Not Love
- Chapter 5 The Motives of Malignity
- Chapter 6 Moral Nihilism and the Paralysis of Action:
- Chapter 7 Apocalyptic Violence
- Chapter 8 Transcending Morality, Preventing Violence
- Chapter 9 The Form and Pressure of Shakespeare’s Time and Ours
- Acknowledgments
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Both Othello and Macbeth show how men can be shamed by other people into committing murder, and how guilt can motivate self-murder. Othello felt humiliated when Iago deceived him into believing Desdemona had made him into a “cuckold.” When he discovers she has actually been faithful, he feels so guilty he punishes himself by suicide – as many such murderers still do. Iago shames Othello into ruining himself because he felt Othello had shamed him. Lady Macbeth shames Macbeth into murdering Duncan, which finally leads to so many murders that she feels guilty enough to kill herself; and he feels so exhausted he longs for death as the only face-saving way to rest in peace – again, like many murderers we have seen.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Holding a Mirror up to NatureShame, Guilt, and Violence in Shakespeare, pp. 83 - 93Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021