ABSTRACT
This chapter establishes the certain broad themes that permit at least one generalization: that evil is, preeminently, a human choice. It discusses, Shakespeare is also sensitive to structural factors in his representations of evil. The chapter addresses the questions of justice and mercy. Shakespeare's tragedies reject a phantasmatics of feminine identity, exorcise binaries of good and evil and focus on the cultural dynamics of gender and power. Shakespeare's interest in evil as a choice is most readily perceptible in the plays' representations of radical evildoers. If the myth of unfettered personal autonomy is a fantasy of Shakespeare's arch-villains, tragic evil arises through dependencies and vulnerabilities. Despite the fact that Shakespeare seldom maintained a clear and consistent position on philosophical issues across his plays, the chapter establishes certain broad themes that permit at least one generalization: that evil is, preeminently, a human choice.
