Faints, fits, and fatalities from emotion in Shakespeare's characters: survey of the canon.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

To determine how often Shakespeare's characters faint, fit, or die from extreme emotion; to assess Shakespeare's uniqueness in this regard; and to examine the plausibility of these dramatised events.

Design

Line by line search through modern editions of these late 16th and early 17th century works for accounts of characters fainting, fitting, or dying while under strong emotion and for no other apparent reason.

Data sources

All 39 canonical plays by Shakespeare and his three long narrative poems; 18 similar works by seven of Shakespeare's best known contemporaries.

Results

10 deaths from strong emotion are recorded by Shakespeare (three occur on stage); all are due to grief, typically at the loss of a loved one. All but two of the deaths are in the p

SUBMITTER: Heaton KW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1761160 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature