How interesting! And thought provoking. I have always thought of spite as beneath us, low, ignoble. Something to be ashamed of indulging in… Yet what else is revenge? Liked your examples.
Some of the most spiteful characters in antiquity are divine. Olympian plot drivers.
Also Medea. It would be intriguing to have her and Iago in the same play together, having left their earlier marriages behind. I'm not sure, though, who would play the heavy.
"Romeo killing Tybalt" as spite? I never thought of it that way, but maybe it is. You happily sent me to OED where the etymology and meanings support a broader take on the word than previously occurred to me. In the household of an Irish mother, spite conveyed a pettiness that I would not have associated with "strong feeling of (†contempt,) hatred or ill-will; intense grudge or desire to injure; rancorous or envious malice." Words! They never stop surprising me.
I wonder ... I'm not sure about this at all. To my mind, spite is something petty and calculating: something based on a personal resentment out of proportion to any offence received - but you (and Robbins) seem to extend it much too far beyond that.
Take (for example) The Count of Monte Cristo. Would you consider that a story about spite? I find it impossible to think of it as one, at least on Dantes's part (of his enemies, Danglars is definitely driven by spite - but surely not Villefort, and I doubt Fernand is either: it's blind erotic passion in his case): it's about (potentially) justified revenge for a most horrendous injury. For the same reason, I don't see how Artemisia Gentilischi's Judith and Holofernes (mentioned by Robbins) can be either, though Michelangelo's portrait of Biagio surely is. Of the examples you give, Romeo killing Tybalt - well, Romeo is bitter about Tybalt's insults, yes, but surely the driving force is "fire-eyed fury" against the man who literally just killed his best friend? I don't see that "spite" is a useful way of characterizing that.
But that said, you're right that there are some great works wholly based on spite. But you don't mention two of the greatest of all: Laclos, Les liaisons dangereuses, and Balzac, La cousine Bette. Maybe the French "do" spite particularly well?
I never thought of spite before as you've laid it out. I think spite is a form of schadenfreude where you are the cause of the "schaden."
Satan gets back at God by messing with Adam and Eve not merely by declaring it's better to rule in hell.
Thanks for this essay, Henry.
Oh yes I like that. Do read Hollis if you don’t her essay is really splendid
How interesting! And thought provoking. I have always thought of spite as beneath us, low, ignoble. Something to be ashamed of indulging in… Yet what else is revenge? Liked your examples.
Some of the most spiteful characters in antiquity are divine. Olympian plot drivers.
Also Medea. It would be intriguing to have her and Iago in the same play together, having left their earlier marriages behind. I'm not sure, though, who would play the heavy.
"Romeo killing Tybalt" as spite? I never thought of it that way, but maybe it is. You happily sent me to OED where the etymology and meanings support a broader take on the word than previously occurred to me. In the household of an Irish mother, spite conveyed a pettiness that I would not have associated with "strong feeling of (†contempt,) hatred or ill-will; intense grudge or desire to injure; rancorous or envious malice." Words! They never stop surprising me.
It may well be one of the broadest emotions! And Romeo yes, if you look at that scene I think spite is clearly the main factor. So sad really
Reminds me of Agnes Callard writing on revenge: Angry Forever - Boston Review https://share.google/pBjpXToTR1FNDmaw2
I wonder ... I'm not sure about this at all. To my mind, spite is something petty and calculating: something based on a personal resentment out of proportion to any offence received - but you (and Robbins) seem to extend it much too far beyond that.
Take (for example) The Count of Monte Cristo. Would you consider that a story about spite? I find it impossible to think of it as one, at least on Dantes's part (of his enemies, Danglars is definitely driven by spite - but surely not Villefort, and I doubt Fernand is either: it's blind erotic passion in his case): it's about (potentially) justified revenge for a most horrendous injury. For the same reason, I don't see how Artemisia Gentilischi's Judith and Holofernes (mentioned by Robbins) can be either, though Michelangelo's portrait of Biagio surely is. Of the examples you give, Romeo killing Tybalt - well, Romeo is bitter about Tybalt's insults, yes, but surely the driving force is "fire-eyed fury" against the man who literally just killed his best friend? I don't see that "spite" is a useful way of characterizing that.
But that said, you're right that there are some great works wholly based on spite. But you don't mention two of the greatest of all: Laclos, Les liaisons dangereuses, and Balzac, La cousine Bette. Maybe the French "do" spite particularly well?
That’s pretty good