The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 15.0302 Tuesday, 3 February 2004
From: Nancy Charlton <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Monday, 02 Feb 2004 09:35:23 -0800
Subject: 15.0275 Gertrude and the Progression of Evil
Comment: Re: SHK 15.0275 Gertrude and the Progression of Evil
Or, as Alexander Pope succinctly put it:
Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,
As, to be hated, needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.
Thanks for your excellent summary and analysis.
Nancy Charlton
Portland OR
John Reed wrote:
>There was an interesting thread lower down about the psychology of
>Gertrude. It might also be interesting to consider her spirituality.
>This matter could be involved with a concept long-known in Catholic
>lore: the idea of the Progression of Evil. I first came across it in
>The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien:
>
>"And wrong behaviour (if it is really wrong on universal
principles) is
>progressive, always: it never stops at being 'not very good', 'second
>best' - it either reforms, or goes on to third rate, bad, abominable."
>(Letter 49. 1943).
[snip rest of post]
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