Later, of course,
when the gods retreated into the background of human life, retributive
justice was conceived more abstractly. Now, it must be admitted, I
think, that this idea, so deeply rooted in the popular mind, has exerted
a profound influence on the drama; yet it cannot be applied universally
without sophistry. To be sure, in _Romeo and Juliet_, the young
people were disobedient and headstrong; in _Lear_, the old father
was foolishly trustful of his wicked daughters; these frailties brought
about their ruin. But did they deserve so hard a fate as theirs? Did
not Lear suffer as much for his folly as his daughters for their
wickedness? This is always true in life, and Shakespeare holds the
mirror up to nature--but is it consistent with the theory of retributive
justice? One can usually trace back to some element of his nature,
physical or moral, the misfortunes that befall an individual; even
those which we call accidents, as Galton claimed, are often due to
some inherent defect of attention which makes us fail to respond
protectively at the right moment. If we take the self to include the
entire organism, then it remains true that we cooperate as a partial
cause in all that happens to us. Ophelia's weak and unresisting brain
must share with the stresses which surrounded her the responsibility
for her madness. In this sense, and in this sense only, do we deserve
our fate, be it good or ill. Yet, when interpreted in this broadest
meaning, retributive justice loses all ethical significance.
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