The Paradox of Death and timor mortis in W;t (W;t에 나타난 죽음의 역설과 공포(timor mortis))

Hwang, Hoon-sung (황훈성)

The Paradox of Death and timor mortis in W;t

Journal of Modern English Drama
Abbr : JMBARD
2013, 26(1), pp.263-292
Publisher : 한국현대영미드라마학회
Research Area : Humanities > English Language and Literature > English Literature > Contemporary English Drama

Hwang, Hoon-sung ¹

¹동국대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

Vivian’s timor mortis is rooted in the four paradoxes incarnated in the phenomenon of death; her soul and body are ravaged by the irreplaceabilty (Eigentlichkeit) of death, the discrepancy between medical science and poetics, the discrepancy between the soul and the body and finally the paradox of theatrum-mundi-cancer. While torturing the protagonist’s body and soul, they churn out all kinds of gem-like Metaphysical wits which attack the audience by surprise and alert them to the grim presence of the Reaper. This play is, however, a far cry from a physicalist vision of death. At the moment of the departing soul, four motifs are coalesced: Epictetus’s vision of the immortal soul, John Donne’s assurance of eternal life after death, Runaway Bunny’s return to its mom, and Vivian’s vision of redemption in a naked state which is tantamount to Epictetus’s pure and divine soul shorn of the Externals. In short, Vivian meets a good death aided by Epictetus’s recipe of curing timor mortis, which dissolves the bondage of the ugly bed fellows, the soul and the body. This play thus presents a paradigmatic instance of postmodern death visualizing the process of soul redemption.

KEYWORDS

thanatology, death, Edson, wit, timor mortis, fear of death, medical science, poetics, terminal disease, Metaphysical conceit, immortality of the soul, postmodern death.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

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