|
|
|
|
|
Shakespeare: Master Psychologist Shakespeare understood why people act as they do, what they fear, and what they want. The greatness of Shakespeare
as a psychologist lies in his ability to know what people will do in virtually all situations. In examining the motives and
purposes of his characters, he arrived at brilliant insights useful in the lives of all of us.
Psychological Journey
Life is a psychological journey towards maturity, fulfilment and the fully developed personality. The key to
this is to integrate what you learn and to develop psychologically.
We are all faced with a series of challenges and it is how we cope with life’s challenges which is at
the heart of William Shakespeare’s psychological understanding of character.
Each of William Shakespeare’s characters represents a unique psychological state and each play illustrates
many different psychological themes. Shakespeare shows the stages of psychological development, sometimes by depicting characters
that have excelled at one or more of these stages.
Tragic Flaw
In other cases, William Shakespeare portrays characters that have obviously failed to develop at some critical
stage. This failure to develop reveals the person’s tragic flaw. They blame others, crack under pressure, become self-obsessed,
or a prey to compulsions, irrational fears, or irrational anger. They express abnormal jealousy, adopt poses, show emotional
imbalance, or fail in their ability to show or express love.
They stood where we stand now, facing the same indecision. They endured the same crisis, suffered as we do.
Their psychological journey was the same as ours, and in describing them, William Shakespeare is describing us. William Shakespeare’s understanding is based on humanistic everyday psychology that gives us insights
that can provide principles for living, which in their depth and breadth, are beyond the scope of this introduction.
Even in his comedies, Shakespeare, while provoking the audience to laughter, manages to explore some of the
deepest issues of human life. ‘Life with William Shakespeare’ as the writer Christopher Hollis put it, ‘is not a debate
on principles. The principles are settled Life is the pageant of men living up to them or failing to live up to them.’” There are four major areas that each individual must conquer if they are to develop into fully rounded, fulfilled
and successful individuals.
William Shakespeare has some revealing insights that can help us to form winning strategies that will help us
in these vital areas of our lives. Below we will only discuss the first. One of the most difficult things for anyone to do is to let go of the conditioning of the past. Our upbringing
and our treatment as children exert an enormous influence on our outlook well into maturity and beyond. If you have had an
unhappy and emotionally difficult childhood, as I had, then shaking off those influences is going to be a major struggle.
But it is best to forgive the mistakes that others made in their relations with us and to move on. This is the
essence of maturity. The moment you begin to hold yourself accountable for everything you do, is the time that you take full
control of your life and your destiny. The blaming of anyone else for our circumstances must end and responsibility for all
our own actions must begin.
The Beginning of the Process
This is the moment when we find ourselves and can become all we want to become. However, this is only the beginning
of the process. All the accumulated demons that hover over us drawing us into destructive and negative patterns of behaviour
will need to be fought over and over again if we are to realise our full potential.
This first stage on our journey of self-discovery as William Shaekespeare demonstrates is to come out from under
the shadow of anyone else and to realise that we are in control of our choices. You and you alone by the exertion of your
unique will, must be responsible for your everyday choices. You are a separate and unique individual with talents, abilities,
inclinations and interests that makes you different from everybody else.
Taking Control
It is absolutely vital that you recognise your ability to make choices, to form new habits and to be responsible
for all your actions. In this area of taking control of who you are it is necessary to be obstinately defiant, or if you prefer,
to be determined. No one else can make you happy or successful.You must chose your work, your mate, where you will live, what
you will do, what you will think. Only then can you truly be said to have found yourself and to be yourself.
Other people will try to influence your decisions, they will tell you that their opinion is right and that to
do anything else is foolish. Defy them! Do it your own way. Become an individual. Rise or fall by your own decisions. Of course,
it is wisdom to seek advice but the ultimate decision is yours. If someone else doesn’t like your decision then that
is their problem, not yours.
The First Great Step
Accept the responsibility for your choices as William Shakespeare teaches us to. Then if it doesn’t work
out, you accept the blame and try something else. If you succeed, then you can accept the credit. This is the true meaning
of becoming a responsible person, taking the chance that our decision may be wrong and not being afraid to take the consequences.
Individuality is the basis for both identity and dignity.William Shakespeare teaches us that individuality is
the first great step in our personal evolution.
Mistakes as Learning Opportunities
Mistakes do not need to be hidden or glossed over. By taking responsibility for an error, you give off an aura
of invincibility. Others will come to believe that your mistakes are learning opportunities and not simple blunders. On the
other hand, the person who blames others or invents excuses compounds the failure. The responsible person retains optimism
no matter how badly things go. The person who avoids responsibility communicates hopelessness and helplessness.
There is much to be gained from assuming responsibility for mistakes in both your personal and business relationships.
Of course, we know that Othello for all his greatness had a tragic flaw, and many of us do too. We struggle
with them all our lives and whether our lives end in tragedy or comedy remains to be seen. But we can still retain the integrity
of our personal dignity by accepting responsibility and never blaming others or circumstances.
After killing his wife, Desdemona, the one person he truly loved and just before he kills himself, Othello expresses
his sense of personal responsibility:
“When you shall these unlucky deeds relate,Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate,…. Then must you
speak…of one whose hand,Like the base Indian, threw a pearl awayRicher than all his tribe…” |
|
|
Enter content here |
|
|
Enter content here |
|
|
Sunpower Philippines Mfg., Ltd. |
|
William Shakespeare had studied grammar, rhetoric and logic and he brought these skills to bear when he wrote
his masterly plays. But it is Shakespeare’s understanding of human psychology, which underpins his dramatic use of language
that makes him a master.
William Shakespeare shows us that Othello took responsibility for every detail of his life.By doing this he made himself
a central character by everything he said and others respected him for this.