Tragic Pleasure in Shakespeare's King Lear and Othello

Introduction The consideration of tragic pleasure is old, harkening back to contemporary critique of Greek tragedy. It is reasonable, however, to believe that no one, from then to now, has been able to deliberate upon the subject of delight in the portrayal of suffering while excluding all reference to reader response. Even if only implicitly conveyed, the focus of tragic pleasure is studying what pleases the audience, the people outside of the play who observe its events. Hence all work on tragic pleasure speculates or assumes in order to produce a generalization about how people do or should react to tragedy. This thesis, which is chiefly preoccupied with studying pleasure in Shakespeare's King Lear and Othello, will begin by addressing the issue of reader response and then establish some of the theories concerning tragedy's effects on the observer which will be referenced in discussing the two plays. In the case of this thesis, the purpose is not so much to dictate an explanation that globally encompasses reactions to these plays as it is to present a specific perspective on how the contents of the dramas might bias their viewers towards particular emotions. It is my presumption that a viable argument for certain reactions can be enforced by drawing on evidence from the play. Implied in this use of evidence is the idea that certain reactions can be reasonably predicted to follow from certain stimuli. That is, certain words, images, and situations will naturally induce specific emotions. Without this assumption, it cannot be of any use to claim that Shakespeare deliberately designed his plays to provoke any emotion at all, for it would be an impossible task to predictably influence different audiences' reactions. Yet, at the very least, there has been some consensus of approval for the plays, which attests to a level of unified feeling toward them. Because evidence can nevertheless often be interpreted in a variety of ways, the cogency of the arguments laid out will remain somewhat subjective. Even so, the assertions 5 here will hopefully seem plausible and provoke thought, even if strong arguments can be made against their points. Though it would be impossible to speak on behalf of everyone acquainted with King Lear or Othello, the audience will nevertheless be addressed as if the term does refer to a universal viewer, spectator, or observer, which it does not. In clarifying here that the "audience" and …