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Similarities Between Margaret Edson And John Donne

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It is inherently human to cultivate distractions to avoid the inevitable death. The works of Both John Donne and Margaret Edson present colliding perspectives on the human tendency to avoid diversions as a means of evading the inescapable reality of mortality. John Donne’s 17th century, theocentric poetry embraces death as one of life's greatest mysteries that cannot be solved, but through reaffirmation of spirituality, provokes solace in recognising the finality of death. The prevalence of mortality forms a significant conversational link between Donne’s poetry and Margaret Edson’s 1991 drama, ‘Wit’. However, the texts collide to a significant extent through their respective representations of death, which are framed by the social and spiritual …show more content…

During the theocentric Jacobean era, Donne's work was significantly framed by his intellectualist approach to mortality as opposed to relying solely on his Christian beliefs to reach spiritual fulfilment. Donne's fulfilment in life is derived from his explorations of death as a ‘puzzle’, however his trivialisation of death affords him no conclusions as he eventually has to face the inevitable existence of death. Donnes experience with “salvation anxiety” is concealed by his hubristic tone employed in “death be not proud”, personifying the matter to suggest that death has some kind of agency. The euphemistic trivialisation of death guards Donnes anxieties, yet he disputes his original claims that death has agency through the Christian paradox “Die not poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me”, reaffirming his faith in redemption and asserting that death is not final, to encapsulate the simplicity of Christianity in answering existential questions and finding spiritual liberation and clarity. Thus, Donne’s work echoes how the strong Christian values of the Jacobean era contributed to diminishing salvation anxieties. Contrastingly, through dramatic form, Edson demonstrates the limitations of the pursuit of knowledge and dependence on intellectual complexity in our capacity to live a spiritually enriched experience. Through Edson’s protagonist, Professor Vivian Bearing, we see the human tendency to distract the mind from the intangible aspects of mortality. Vivian reflects on the uncertainty of death in a secular context as she becomes increasingly unsettled by “discussing” vague ideas of “life and death”. Similar to Donne, Vivian exhibits hubris, being “a scholar of Donne's Holy Sonnets”, knowing “all about life and death”. Her certainty gradually declines towards her death as she realises that language has

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