Shakespeare’s Cymbeline and the Mystical Particular: Redemption, Then and Now, for a Disassembled World

Authors

Judy Schavrien, Sofia University

DOI

10.24972/ijts.2013.32.2.122

Abstract

Cymbeline reflected Shakespeare’s late-in-life aspirations for a world redeemed. Those in baroque England, past the first burgeoning of Renaissance vision, were nevertheless making a literal New World abroad. Likewise, Shakespeare arrived at a vision both post-innocent and post-tragic. As they compared to tragic heroes, he down-sized the late play characters; still, he granted them a gentler end. Late characters and worlds suffered centrifugal pressures; yet, ultimately, centripetal forces, internal and external, brought selves and worlds together. Relevant to today’s disassembled world, the study tracks Shakespeare’s approach to unification: He rebalanced gender, internal and external; he placed an emphasis on feminine and pastoral virtues, crucial for navigating a seemingly chaotic but beneficent cosmos. In addition, his vision in Cymbeline was mystical, relying on acute and shifting contextual awareness, and the power of a vivid particular to transport beyond the rational.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Schavrien, J. (2013). Schavrien, J. (2013). Shakespeare’s Cymbeline and the mystical particular: Redemption, then and now, for a disassembled world. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 32(2), 122–140.. International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, 32 (2). https://doi.org/10.24972/ijts.2013.32.2.122