Book Review
Title: Last Things in Shakespeare
Author: Harry Morris
Publisher: Florida State University Press
Date: January 1, 1985
ISBN: 978-0813007946
The book is an eschatological analysis of several Shakespeare plays:
Hamlet
Othello
King Lear
Macbeth
Romeo and Juliet
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
The Henry Plays (Henry IV #1, Henry IV #2, Henry V)
As You Like It
The first four plays listed constitute a hypothetical tetralogy with a shared theme of damnation versus redemption, and how they figure in the behavior and fate of the leading characters. For example, how do Hamlet and Othello, deemed to be in a state of grace at the outset, turn out by the end of the plays. Same question for King Lear and Macbeth, who are deemed to be in a fallen state at the outset of their respective plays. What decisions are key to their destinies. Morris goes to great lengths establishing the likely answers to these questions. He supports his conclusions with an impressive body of references.
Morris argues that Shakespeare was fluent in Spiritual Encyclopædiæ cataloguing the realms of the afterlife and the fates that await humanity. Shakespeare’s plays are laced with memento-mori, for example, the popular “Dance of Death.” The Mediæval iconography and tropes of “last things” was still in wide circulation in the sixteenth century and Shakespeare would’ve been intimately familiar with such traditions and the works that came out of those origins.
Another theme throughout the plays, Morris points out, is the topsy-turvy state of everything and everyone under the influence of demons and when evil usurps good. The wrong person is wearing the crown, reality seems upside down, life is a mixed-up mess. These perverse states of affairs ensue from leading characters making tragic choices to align with the demons instead of angels, for example.
Dante’s Inferno plays into Shakespeare’s descriptions of the fate of souls. Dante aligns degrees of evil with levels of Hell. These levels of punishment match up with the extent of depravity of the sins of those souls navigating the regions of the eternal Inferno. Shakespeare using Dantean descriptions of evildoers like Macbeth, shows Macbeth’s worst depravities that correspond to the most horrible punishments in the Inferno.
The final play in the collection, As You Like It, features the paradoxical themes of Et in Arcadia Ego and Memento-Mori. The former highlights timeless pastoral paradise, the latter inevitable deterioration, death, and decay. In the bucolic paradise, there is a conspicuous skull in a meadow. Carefree youths are reminded of their timeline towards that skull. It is a symbol of the universality of the ravages of time. Appropriately, As You Like It features the famous “Seven Ages of Man” speech.
Harry Morris’ scholarship is extensive and persuasive. His arguments are insightful and very enlightening. In addition to being deeply researched, the book is brilliant and beautifully written. The author is truly an artistic writer as well as a deep analytical thinker. I thoroughly enjoyed reading every line on every page. Anyone who appreciates crystal-clear thinking and æsthetic writing will enjoy the book. Anyone who appreciates Mediæval and Renaissance traditions, will especially love the book. It is obviously a must-read for any Shakespeare fan or scholar. Whether or not any of the above apply, I still recommend the book to any discerning reader.