SHAKESPEARE AND LIMITS. My brother Elmer has always cited TROILUS AND CRESSIDA, Act III, Scene 2, ll. 87-90, as analogous to the ways an economist looks at life and love. Troilus says to Cressida, “This is the monstruosity in love, lady, that the will is infinite and the execution confined, the desire is boundless and the act a slave to limit.”
Categories
Archives
Recent Comments
- ARE PEOPLE LESS VIOLENT? (COMMENT). (2)
- Dick Weisfelder: My prior comment was just in the context of sports. Whether or not from Pinker, I have seen the...
- erik: It seems doubtful that human nature has changed. The most likely explanation would be that modern culture gives...
- HOW BANKS PREPARED FOR A U.S. DEFAULT. (2)
- GREECE’S ADVANTAGE IN THE CHICKEN GAME. (2)
- Nick: That makes sense. It reminds me of the stories Pater Familias would tell me about how in Boston the person with...
- Dick Weisfelder: Greece seems to me to be playing a game that Karl Deutsch called “underdog.” While one...
- FOOTBALL PLAYERS DELIBERATELY CAUSING CONCUSSIONS? (3)
- Nick: It was my understanding that boxing gloves were to protect the puncher’s hands and not the...
- Dick Weisfelder: Remember the Roman arenas? Bare knuckled boxing? Such injuries were taken as natural and accepted in...
- Mary Jane Schaefer: This isn’t about football. Or even sportsmanship. Well, it is about sportsmanship. But what...
- A 25 % CHANCE OF A EURO DEFAULT? (1)
- Nick: The fact that this has gone on for so long is pretty perplexing. The Economist is referring back to articles it...
- DECIDING WHAT KIND OF PATIENT YOU ARE. (1)
- Dick Weisfelder: One can be very open to new technology, but also risk averse. The recent debates about how to...
- THE EUROZONE—A CHICKEN GAME WHERE EVERY MEMBER CAN BLOW IT UP? (1)
- Mary Jane Schaefer: This is not a matter of chicken. These are all turkeys.
- ARE PEOPLE LESS VIOLENT? (COMMENT). (2)
Meta
A lot of the professors here criticize Shakespeare for the “unrealistic” or “confusing” plot devices, or lines of dialog. I feel like part of that is by tearing down the greatest you can make yourself seem impressive.
In reality, I think the lines that “don’t make sense” are either A) Cultural changes from 400 years ago B) Meant for poetic/phonic beauty or C) Overlook the fact that there was great wisdom in what he wrote years ahead of its time.