Psychoanalytical and Psychobiographical Explorations of Shakespeare as Revealed in His Plays - Psychohistory Forum.
Presenter: Jeffrey Rubin, PhD (Object Relations Institute and Private Practice)
Date: September 30, 2023
Shakespeare captivates - and eludes - us. We are fascinated by his work and at pains to understand who he was. Given the absence of diaries, personal correspondence, or manifestos about his artistic process or opus, it is unsurprising that a dominant strain in recent criticism is skepticism about our ability to understand his personality or forge links between him and his work.
Jung, like Nietzsche, knew that one’s creative work is a “subjective confession.” Even though there is a dearth of overt biographical information about Shakespeare, there is something that the vast number of critics ignore - or neglect the implications of - the haunting personal testament encoded in the plays.
When we consider Shakespeare’s oeuvre as a whole and bring together disparate and seemingly unrelated elements that are normally kept apart - from absent and devouring mothers and evil usurpers, to stolen and mistaken identities and inauthentic selves - I believe a new and startling picture occurs of a vexed genius whose creations were both an incalculable gift and a breathtaking attempt to solve a personal and disturbing mystery: what happened to me?
The bard’s work is, in a quintessentially Jungian way, both an unparalleled elucidation of human life and a poignant story about his creative attempts to symbolize what afflicted him and unconsciously strive to heal himself. My hope is that after this wide-ranging sojourn over Shakespeare’s plays and a recontextualization of his life and work and a more intimate encounter with him, we will not only engage his work with renewed vitality but be personally transformed and enriched.
10 сен 2024
