As the world celebrates the four hundred and fiftieth birthday of the Bard of Avon, we are paying a modest tribute to the immortal Bard, Shakespeare, whose
contribution to literature age cannot wither nor custom stale (its) infinite variety, by bringing out a Special Issue. It is worth remembering that Shakespeare’s plays provide perennial springs of values, which help the reader with proper guidance in his passage through life. The presentation of the positive dimensions of character, like nobility, guides in the proper way, while his portrayal of negative dimensions—like greed, indecision and jealousy—cautions against falling prey to them. Some of these can be of immense value to the modern managers as well.

In the first paper, “Subalterns in The Merchant of Venice: Interrogating the Postcolonial Reading”, the author, Bindu Sharma, interrogates the postcolonial reading of the play, The Merchant of Venice, as an unsympathetic portrayal of Shylock, the moneylender. Although the usurious practice is attributed to Jews and Shylock’s unkindness to the defaulter, the human dimension of the Jew is presented in his pitiable sobs after his daughter elopes with a Christian. It is here that Shakespeare stands out as a dispassionate artist, argues the author.
R Venkatesan Iyengar, in his paper, “The Disguised Heroines of Shakespeare”, examines critically Shakespeare’s use of disguise by the female protagonists in his plays. Shakespeare has taken the convention of disguise prevalent in the Elizabethan drama and has refined it for his dramatic purpose. Although he has effectively used the device in other plays, it is in the disguise adopted by Portia in The Merchant of Venice that the lady displays great tact, beauty, grace and resourcefulness, exuding an air of authority, Shakespeare’s women like Portia challenge the stereotypes of women prevalent during the Elizabethan times.

Amitabh Vikram Dwivedi, in his paper, “From Shakespeare to Olson: An Inquiry into Poetical Discourse”, looks at the poetic discourse as the patterns change over time. The evolution of poetic form from blank verse, rhymed verse and metrical verse to free verse without a fixed format in the poems of Olson and a few of the poems by the author of the paper are discussed. Though Shakespeare too experimented with poetic form by introducing blank verse and standardizing the structure of sonnet, he paid utmost attention to meaning.

A Ratna Malathi, in her paper, “Commonalities Between Shakespeare’s Characters and Indian Mythological Figures: Contemporary Relevance”, brings out the cultural universals discernable in the works of Shakespeare and in Indian epics. The emotions possessed by men are similar and people tend to fall prey to inner evils—arishadvargas —flesh is heir to. She looks at the hold of negative emotions like kama (lust), lobha (greed), moha (delusion), krodha (anger), and maatsarya (jealousy). Her detailed analysis of the sway of these emotions shows that they are the cause for the eventual downfall and are still relevant to the present generation, especially of youth.

GRK Murty, in his paper, “Leaders’ Ethical Dilemmas: Shakespeare’s Analysis:
A Lesson for Today’s Business Leaders”, brings out the imperative need for ethics in modern business practices, in the context of the mess created by business leaders in recent times, and citing the views of eminent psychologists as well as Aristotle, compares the dilemma faced by Brutus in his decision to join hands with the conspirators to eliminate Caesar, because he loved Rome more than he liked Caesar. His specious justification of his decision is similar to modern motivated blindness.

The joy of teaching Shakespeare to Indian students in a college in Andhra Pradesh is brought out by C Subba Rao, in his paper, “Teaching Shakespeare”. The author enjoyed teaching Shakespeare—especially, plays—to his students who too shared the pleasure. The play liked by many was Julius Caesar, and showed the novel interpretation of treating Brutus, the uncompromising idealist, as a truly honorable man. They not only read the play, but also participated in the staging of the play. They enjoyed Falstaff’s humor, too, though they did not appreciate the theme of the Sonnets.

The contemporary relevance of Shakespeare’s works is also discussed by Hetal M Doshi, in his paper, “Relevance of Shakespeare’s Management Lessons”. The author avers that the values enshrined in the plays are of immense use to modern people in shaping their personal and professional management. The plays also caution against possessing what were called negative emotions. The excessive credulousness of King Lear, when he believes the protestations of love for him by Goneril and Regan and distrust of the truthful declaration of Cordelia, is what a manager should avoid in the corporate sector. There will be flatterers who wish to serve their ends. The indecisiveness of Hamlet has to be avoided at any cost.

The manifestation of madness, sometimes pretended, in Shakespeare’s plays is discussed by Shweta Bali in her paper, “Mechanics of Madness in Hamlet, Macbeth and King Lear”. The author distinguishes between intellectual madness and integrative madness in King Lear, whose madness is a result of precarious psychological equilibrium. She examines the unpredictability of Hamlet’s madness, which is a pretension to draw out the secret of Claudius. Lady Macbeth’s madness is a result of her obsession with power, but later she realizes the enormity of crime she made Macbeth commit. Macbeth too loses his sleep and balance of mind. The author avers that the presentation of madness adds to the dramatic and tragic intensity of the plays.

P Indira Devi, in her paper, “Tragic Flaw in Shakespeare’s Hamlet”, examines the role of the tragic flaws in precipitating the tragic end of the protagonist in Hamlet. The hero, Hamlet, is a man of noble character, idealistic and philosophical, but sicklied with pale cast of thought. His inability to act and take revenge, when opportunity presents itself, for example, when Claudius is kneeling in prayer, shows his indecisiveness. His vacillation also shows a streak of his nobility, when he does not want to kill a defenseless adversary. The author compares the tragic flaw of Hamlet to the tragic flaw of Ravana of The Ramayana, who is an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva and a matchless warrior, but has the weakness for the other woman, Sita. In both cases, however, apart from the trait in their character, there is a divinity that shapes their end.

-- S S Prabhakar Rao
Consulting Editor