Villians and Nihilism in Shakespeare's Mature Tragedies

In the latter part of William Shakespeare's career, there seems to be an apparent shift in the content of his plays. Shakespeare's writing seems to move into a darker realm, as his writing formulas seem to evolve in his later years. In the comedies, traditional clowns, hijinks, and comedic elements seem to be reworked and morphed, as he experiments with an entirely new genre in his "romance" plays (Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, Pericles, and The Tempest). As his comedic work moves into a mature, somber tone, Shakespeare's tragedies seem to make an equal shift, becoming darker and more intense. His most earliest notable tragedies are works like Romeo and Juliet and Titus Andronicus. While these were - and still remain - some of Shakespeare's most popular works, they are not generally considered to be his most powerful and moving tragedies. Those honors are generally bestowed upon the so-dubbed "mature" tragedies: Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear being the most discussed. What are the changes in Shakespeare's writing that make these later works so powerful? One obvious answer is that Shakespeare's growth and experience over the years allowed him to refine and hone his skills of writing.

However, the shifts are not completely within the text, but also in the themes. The early plays are filled with life and vitality, praising and glorifying the virtues of true love, even when in the presence of deep tragedy. In the mature tragedies, this romanticization of life's struggles is replaced with harsh realism, and lengthy speeches laced with powerful nihilism. Although all of these tragedies have major elements of this nihilistic theme, the two plays which seem to contain the most intense expressions of philosophical nothingness are Macbeth and King Lear. Another major development that arises is Shakespeare's development of the villain character. Until this point, Shakespeare's antagonists had been in the background, less developed than the protagonists. This older convention remains more true in King Lear and Hamlet, but in Othello and Macbeth, some of the greatest evildoers in the history of theater appear. These characters provoke a level of morbid fascination that is likely rivaled only the villains in Christopher Marlowe's Faustus and Arthur Miller's The Crucible. Through the text of these plays and the dark thematic elements that dominate the majority of the action, it is apparent that Shakespeare's life philosophy takes a darker shift, as he toys with the nature of morality and betrayal in these dark dramatic works. His characters become more than just tools of entertainment, but examinations of human nature and psychology.

There are a number of themes that appear in all of these later tragedies. In each, a character who has been a trusted ally, friend, or family member of another character commits a deliberate betrayal for the sake of gaining power. In Hamlet, this character is Claudius, who clandestinely murders his brother in order to gain the throne. This is echoed (from the perspective of the traitor) in Macbeth, when the title character and his wife plot - and execute - the assassination of the king for the same reason. In Othello, a vengeful and cunning soldier named Iago exacts his version of justice upon his general in order to gain power. King Lear continues the theme with two daughters whose father bequeaths them his kingdom, then subsequently deprive him of everything. The parallels between the thematic elements of these four tragedies are numerous and significant.

Through the characters of the traitors within each of these plays, Shakespeare examines the nature of humanity, and what drives a person to commit selfish acts that are considered to be morally reprehensible. Frighteningly enough, most of these characters - like Shakespeare's previous work in Richard III - are fascinating and almost likable. The actions of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth may be disturbing and even disgusting, but audiences still can relate to (and sometimes even root for) these murderous traitors. We are drawn in by their logic, personality, and the incredible language that Shakespeare imbues in these villains. When confronted with the eerie prophesy by Macbeth's metaphysical witches, and the title character's subsequent reaction, an onlooker cannot help but be drawn in by the powerful verse. "...why do I yield to that suggestion / Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair, / And make my seated heart knock at my ribs, / Against the use of nature?" (Macbeth, I, iii, 141-144). By placing some of his most incredible rhetoric and verse in these characters, Shakespeare is once again experimenting with conventional morality.

Any character, given the right text, can make an audience sympathetic, as is proved by the centuries-old scholarly fascination with these characters. From this perspective, Shakespeare evokes a level of sympathy for these characters from his patrons. This sympathy is certainly more present in Macbeth than these other plays, but there are elements in Iago, Claudius, and Lear's daughters that are chillingly human. Some of these elements are subsequently undermined - such as Claudius' scene of religious atonement, when a lengthy regretful soliloquy by the antagonist is quickly dismissed. "My words fly up, my thoughts remain below: / Words without thoughts never to heaven go" (Hamlet, III, iii, 100-101). Hamlet decides not to avenge his father while his uncle is in this state of prayer (not knowing that the prayers are as false as Claudius is).

Justice is still a powerful and present theme in the mature tragedies, as each of these immoral characters is dead - or caught - by the end of their respective plays. However, the damage that is done by these traitors is catastrophic and irreversible, and often the protagonists or morally sound characters are dead as well - either by their own hand (as with Othello) or by the hand of another (in Hamlet's case). Morality is upside down, as the audience is placed in the heads of the evildoers, seeing the logic - or lack thereof - that motivates their actions. These plays almost seem to become psychological analyses of human nature, and the circumstances that drive a person to betray a person who trusts them. Interestingly enough, much of the justification for the actions of these plays' characters comes in the form of nihilism or greed, two very contrasting justifications for the actions of the same characters. Often, the villains are driven by greed, while the tragic heroes tend to speak the major nihilistic speeches. Each of these plays contains moments of intense nihilism, in some of the speeches that have since become some of the best known out of Shakespeare's canon. Macbeth stands in his castle at Dunsinane, waiting for what he will soon learn to be his own fated downfall, when he learns of his beloved wife's death.

MACBETH: Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing. (V, v, 25-31)

There is a hint of irony in this speech, as it is being spoken by a general who has degenerated into a treacherous usurper who has - with relatively little hesitation - murdered his sovereign and fellow general, as well as the wife and children of his enemy.

Macbeth is certainly a unique play, where it is difficult to define the main characters. The title character in each of the mature tragedies are certainly four different forms of tragic heros, but Macbeth is somewhat different. Even as he seems to fulfill all of the necessary requirements for the tragic hero figure, he seems at the same time to be more of an antagonist than a protagonist. The line is (seemingly) more clear-cut in the other mature tragedies, where the main character tends to be the betrayed, rather than the traitor. The despair of nihilism seems to be a natural response for these tragic heros, as each is driven into their own unique insanities by their antagonists. Lear begins his downward spiral into despair in the first act, when he realizes that he has become nothing since relinquishing his throne.

LEAR: Who is it that can tell me who I am?

FOOL: Lear's shadow. (I, iv, 219-220)

This simple, two-word answer to Lear's desperate question is perhaps the most chilling line in the play. "Nothing" becomes a central theme in King Lear, when Lear disowns Cordelia for her silence, and again when Cordelia dies. As in Macbeth, the language of Lear echos an absence of meaning, especially when dealing with the death of loved ones. Shakespeare seems to make a point to use this nihilism in order to convey the grief and sorrow that life - and especially death - entails. This is a far cry from the moral lessons present in the early tragedies, as even the ending of Romeo and Juliet is filled with love for life. Without reverence for life, there is no tragedy in the sacrifice of two young lovers, and Shakespeare's message is lost. The contrast between the star-crossed lovers of Shakespeare's early career to the murderous, demented, and despondent characters that dominate the mature tragedies, and can illustrate nothing less than a major shift in the philosophy contained within these plays. Through these plays, Shakespeare takes his audiences into the minds of murderers and lunatics, and shows the true depths of tragedy that betrayal can bring.