For One's Offence Why Should so Many Fall

Hecuba and the Problems of Conscience in The Rape of Lucrece and Hamlet

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3389110
AutoresBenedict Whalen, Benedict J Whalen (Hillsdale College, autor correspondente)
Ano2019
Volume10
Fascículo1
Páginas38
Data de publicação2019-01-09
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoReligions (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
EditoraMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel10010038
OpenAlexW2910453542
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas2
Referências citadas24

In The Rape of Lucrece and Hamlet, Shakespeare focuses upon the effects of sin and the problems of conscience that it causes. However, he does so by shifting focus from the sinner to the one harmed by the sin. Through this shift in focus, Shakespeare explores sin as something that does not only harm the sinner and his immediate victim, but as something that strikes against the common good. Sin harms humanity in its corporate nature, and the consequences of sin-sorrows, guilt, conflicted conscience, and the desire for absolution-spread from the sinner to his victims and the larger community. At pivotal moments in both works, Shakespeare turns to artistic representations of the figure of Hecuba, sorrowing in the midst of the destruction of Troy, as a means for navigating the strained point of intersection between private conscience and the common good

Aesthetics · Art · Conscience · Consciousness · Epistemology · Harm · Humanity · Literature · Physics · Political science · Sociology · Theology · Classical Antiquity Studies · Islamic Studies and History · Joseph Conrad and Literature · Law · Philosophy