That it is possible

I’ve been (obsessively) reading Shakespeare’s tragedies recently, and I realized that one thing I love about Shakespeare is his ability to portray his heroes as deeply flawed and performing the foulest deeds, yet, at the same time, in such a way that as I follow their story, I find myself seeing past their misdeeds and loving, or at the very least, understanding them.

Hamlet’s indecisiveness; Lear’s foolishness and arrogance; Macbeth’s greediness and lust for power; these are major downfalls for these characters, with serious consequences for them and those around them. Yet, as we follow their stories, we come to understand why they are the way they are; we come to see their inner demons, as well as their inner goodness, and we come to understand how both driving forces combine, and how they often result in tragic consequences.

In Lear’s case, for example, his love for his youngest daughter, is a major driving force during the play; yet, in his misguidedness, Lear expresses this love in such a way that it destroys him, his daughter, and others around them. Hamlet is driven by the noble impulse of obtaining justice for his father’s murder and exposing his uncle’s crime, yet in his indecision and inability to translate thought into action, he precipitates tragic events around him. Macbeth behaves nobly at the beginning of the play, but when it is prophesied that he will be king, he recognizes the seeds of greed and lust for power growing in his heart, yet he is unable to do anything to overcome these impulses, and becomes a raging tyrant and murderer.

And yet, despite horrendous acts throughout these plays, we are struck with the realization of their characters humaneness. We root for them, knowing that they can do better, seeing the possibility of redemption and the seeds of goodness in their heart, even as we condemn their vile, misguided actions.

This realization is something that we can translate to our daily lives right now. Though for most of us our everyday lives are (thankfully) less dramatic and violent than Shakespeare's plays, the fact remains that we judge ourselves and those around us based on limited aspects of our personalities, and the manifestations of those aspects. We judge and categorize each other based on our misguided deeds, and on perceived, though real, character flaws. In contrast to this, Shakespeare reminds us that to understand a person in their totality, to recognize their positive driving forces, as well as and their misguided deeds, is to come to love them. And, I would add, that to understand and forgive each other this way, lays the ground for positive transformation to occur.

Shakespeare does not tell us that everything will work out fine in the end. Because, clearly, it doesn’t. What Shakespeare does help us realize though, is that everyone is worthy of understanding and forgiveness, that we are all indeed lovable, and that at any moment, redemption is possible.

Peace