Abstract
Modern critics and historians invariably give the impression that early modern emotional states fell neatly into singular categories, whether grouped under humours, passions, or affections. However, judging at least from the evidence of Shakespeare’s plays, it seems that his contemporaries were just as prone as we are to experience ‘mixed emotions’, sometimes ‘conjoining’ moods that seem opposed to each as oxymorons, but just as often merely diverse feelings which, when mingled, signify complex and unique affective states.
‘… his heart burst smilingly’
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
All reference to Shakespeare’s works are taken from Shakespeare (2005).
- 2.
“Double time” is Shakespeare’s dramatic technique in which events of a few days feel are made to feel like they have taken much longer. See Chapman (1949). Modern editions of the play invariably deal with this problem but Chapman provides the basic information.
References
Aaker, J., Drolet, A., Griffin, D. (2008). Recalling mixed emotions. Journal of Consumer Research, 35, 268–278.
Burton, R. (1624). The anatomy of melancholy. Oxford.
Carr, D. (2009). Virtue, mixed emotions and moral ambivalences. Philosophy, 84, 31–46.
Chapman, R. (1949). Double time in Romeo and Juliet. The Modern Language Review, 44, 372–374.
Chaudhuri, A. (2006). Emotion and reason in consumer behavior. Elsevier: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Curzer, H. J. (2005). How good people do bad things: Aristotle on the misdeeds of the virtuous. Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy, 28, 233–256.
Evans, B. (1960). Shakespeare’s comedies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Evans, B. (1979). Shakespeare’s tragic practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lennard, S. (1608). Wisdome. Trans. Peter Charron. London.
O’Shaugnessy, N. J. (2003). The marketing power of emotion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Reeve, C. D. C. (2005). Love’s confusions. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Shakespeare, W. (2005). Well, S. & G. Taylor (Eds.). The Oxford Shakespeare 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Williams, P., Aaker, J. L. (2002). Can mixed emotions peacefully coexist? Journal of Consumer Research, 28, 636–649.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
White, R. (2014). ‘Variable Passions’: Shakespeare’s Mixed Emotions. In: Kambaskovic, D. (eds) Conjunctions of Mind, Soul and Body from Plato to the Enlightenment. Studies in the History of Philosophy of Mind, vol 15. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9072-7_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9072-7_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-017-9071-0
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-9072-7
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawPhilosophy and Religion (R0)