Carl Jung, Saul's road to Damascus, and Hamlet's madness
This Carl Jung quote made me think of Hamlet's dilemma and his descent into vengeful thoughts and actions:
"But what if I should discover that the least amongst them all, the poorest of all beggars, the most impudent of all offenders, yeah, the very fiend himself, that these are within me, and that I myself stand in need of the alms of my own kindness, that I myself am the enemy who must be loved. What then?
Then, as a rule, the whole truth of Christianity is reversed: there is then no more talk of love and long-suffering; we say to the brother within us “Raca,” and condemn and rage against ourselves. We hide him from the world, we deny ever having met this least among the lowly in ourselves, and had it been God himself who drew near to us in this despicable form, we should have denied him a thousand times before a single cock had crowed.
Anyone who uses modern psychology to look behind the scene not only of his patients’ lives, but more especially of his own life—and the modern psychotherapist must do this if he is not to be merely an unconscious fraud—will admit that to accept himself in all his wretchedness is the hardest of tasks, and one which it is almost impossible to fulfill.
The very thought can make us sweat with fear. We are therefore only too delighted to choose, without a moment’s hesitation, the complicated course of remaining in ignorance about ourselves while busying ourselves with other people and their troubles and sins. This activity lends us a perceptible air of virtue, by means of which we benevolently deceive ourselves and others. God be praised, we have escaped from ourselves at last!
There are countless people who can do this with impunity, but not everyone can, and these few break down on the road to their Damascus and succumb to a neurosis. How can I help these people if I myself am a fugitive, and perhaps also suffer from the morbus sacer ["holy disease"] of a neurosis?"
- Carl Jung [1]
~~
Hamlet tries at first to identify evil exterior to himself in Claudius and others. [2]
Later he admits to Ophelia that he is a terrible sinner, [3] but gets worse. [4]
He neglects his own evils, like Saul before conversion on the road to Damascus[5], when he strives to damn Claudius by hoping to kill him when he is sinning, and then he makes it worse by assuming it is Claudius behind the arras, and kills Polonius by mistake....
NOTES: All references to Hamlet (and other Shakespeare plays) are to the Folger Shakespeare Library online versions: https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakespeares-works/hamlet/entire-play/
[1] From Modern Man in Search of a Soul (1933),
chapter 11, "Psychotherapists or Clergy" (235-6).
[2] Hamlet 1.2.139-164, 1.5.41.119, 3.3.81-101, 3.4.13-35, 41-117
[3] 3.1.132-140
[4] 3.2.116-276
[5] Acts 9. Hamlet’s willingness to grapple with the evils within himself is a point on which he changes gradually, with some resistance and missteps, after his sea-voyage and graveyard-visit. He speaks of his madness as what is guilty in him, and not himself, as if externalizing his own madness (as St. Paul does "sin" in Romans &: 8,11,13,15,17,19-20 ]). He makes great progress by the end, but he is an unfinished work (as we all are).
IMAGES:
Left: Carl Gustav Jung. Fair use via https://www.cgjungny.org/programs/
Middle: Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863): Hamlet and Horatio in the Graveyard, 1839.
Louvre Museum. Public domain via https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Eug%C3%A8ne_Delacroix_-_Hamlet_and_Horatio_in_the_Graveyard_-_WGA6199.jpg
Right: Book cover, Modern Man in Search of a Soul (1933), reprinted 2017: Fair u
https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Man-Search-Soul-Jung/dp/1684220904
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IF YOU WOULD PREFER to support me on a REGULAR basis,
you may do so on Ko-Fi, or here on Patreon:
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Disclaimer: If and when I quote or paraphrase bible passages or mention religion in many of my blog posts, I do not intend to promote any religion over another, nor am I attempting to promote religious belief in general; only to explore how the Bible and religion influenced Shakespeare, his plays, and his age.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for reading!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My current project is a book tentatively titled Hamlet’s Bible, about biblical allusions and plot echoes in Hamlet.
Below is a link to a list of some of my top posts (“greatest hits”), including a description of my book project (last item on the list):
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/12/top-20-hamlet-bible-posts.html
I post every week, so please visit as often as you like and consider FOLLOWING.
To find the FOLLOW button, go to the home page: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/
see the = drop-down menu with three lines in the upper left.
From there you can click FOLLOW and see options.
"But what if I should discover that the least amongst them all, the poorest of all beggars, the most impudent of all offenders, yeah, the very fiend himself, that these are within me, and that I myself stand in need of the alms of my own kindness, that I myself am the enemy who must be loved. What then?
Then, as a rule, the whole truth of Christianity is reversed: there is then no more talk of love and long-suffering; we say to the brother within us “Raca,” and condemn and rage against ourselves. We hide him from the world, we deny ever having met this least among the lowly in ourselves, and had it been God himself who drew near to us in this despicable form, we should have denied him a thousand times before a single cock had crowed.
Anyone who uses modern psychology to look behind the scene not only of his patients’ lives, but more especially of his own life—and the modern psychotherapist must do this if he is not to be merely an unconscious fraud—will admit that to accept himself in all his wretchedness is the hardest of tasks, and one which it is almost impossible to fulfill.
The very thought can make us sweat with fear. We are therefore only too delighted to choose, without a moment’s hesitation, the complicated course of remaining in ignorance about ourselves while busying ourselves with other people and their troubles and sins. This activity lends us a perceptible air of virtue, by means of which we benevolently deceive ourselves and others. God be praised, we have escaped from ourselves at last!
There are countless people who can do this with impunity, but not everyone can, and these few break down on the road to their Damascus and succumb to a neurosis. How can I help these people if I myself am a fugitive, and perhaps also suffer from the morbus sacer ["holy disease"] of a neurosis?"
- Carl Jung [1]
~~
Hamlet tries at first to identify evil exterior to himself in Claudius and others. [2]
Later he admits to Ophelia that he is a terrible sinner, [3] but gets worse. [4]
He neglects his own evils, like Saul before conversion on the road to Damascus[5], when he strives to damn Claudius by hoping to kill him when he is sinning, and then he makes it worse by assuming it is Claudius behind the arras, and kills Polonius by mistake....
NOTES: All references to Hamlet (and other Shakespeare plays) are to the Folger Shakespeare Library online versions: https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakespeares-works/hamlet/entire-play/
[1] From Modern Man in Search of a Soul (1933),
chapter 11, "Psychotherapists or Clergy" (235-6).
[2] Hamlet 1.2.139-164, 1.5.41.119, 3.3.81-101, 3.4.13-35, 41-117
[3] 3.1.132-140
[4] 3.2.116-276
[5] Acts 9. Hamlet’s willingness to grapple with the evils within himself is a point on which he changes gradually, with some resistance and missteps, after his sea-voyage and graveyard-visit. He speaks of his madness as what is guilty in him, and not himself, as if externalizing his own madness (as St. Paul does "sin" in Romans &: 8,11,13,15,17,19-20 ]). He makes great progress by the end, but he is an unfinished work (as we all are).
IMAGES:
Left: Carl Gustav Jung. Fair use via https://www.cgjungny.org/programs/
Middle: Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863): Hamlet and Horatio in the Graveyard, 1839.
Louvre Museum. Public domain via https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Eug%C3%A8ne_Delacroix_-_Hamlet_and_Horatio_in_the_Graveyard_-_WGA6199.jpg
Right: Book cover, Modern Man in Search of a Soul (1933), reprinted 2017: Fair u
https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Man-Search-Soul-Jung/dp/1684220904
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
YOU CAN SUPPORT ME on a one-time "tip" basis on Ko-Fi:
https://ko-fi.com/pauladrianfried
IF YOU WOULD PREFER to support me on a REGULAR basis,
you may do so on Ko-Fi, or here on Patreon:
https://patreon.com/PaulAdrianFried
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disclaimer: If and when I quote or paraphrase bible passages or mention religion in many of my blog posts, I do not intend to promote any religion over another, nor am I attempting to promote religious belief in general; only to explore how the Bible and religion influenced Shakespeare, his plays, and his age.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for reading!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My current project is a book tentatively titled Hamlet’s Bible, about biblical allusions and plot echoes in Hamlet.
Below is a link to a list of some of my top posts (“greatest hits”), including a description of my book project (last item on the list):
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/12/top-20-hamlet-bible-posts.html
I post every week, so please visit as often as you like and consider FOLLOWING.
To find the FOLLOW button, go to the home page: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/
see the = drop-down menu with three lines in the upper left.
From there you can click FOLLOW and see options.
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