From Existential Apathy to Political Submission: Exploring the Features and Manifestations of Resignation Across Key Works of Western Literary Canon (Camus, Flaubert, Shakespeare, Orwell, Goethe)

 

The Anatomy of Resignation: Features and Manifestations in Western European Literature

Defining Resignation and its Psychological Traits

 

Resignation (from the Latin resignatio, meaning 'giving up' or 'yielding') is a profound psychological state characterized by surrender or acceptance of an inevitable—and often unfavorable—situation or fate. It signifies the abandonment of further struggle, effort to change circumstances, or hope for improvement. The key feature of resignation is an internal withdrawal coupled with apathy; the individual ceases to act proactively or pursue goals, instead experiencing a pervasive sense of helplessness and loss (often a loss of personal agency or control). While occasionally interpreted as a sign of inner peace or wise acceptance, resignation is primarily associated with emotional detachment, disappointment, and grief. This feeling becomes particularly acute when, after prolonged struggle or significant effort, one realizes that the situation will not improve, and all that remains is passive acceptance.

 

Resignation in the Literary Canon: Existential and Social Responses

 

The concept of resignation is frequently explored and dissected in Western European literature, reflecting complex dramas of human existence. In existentialist literature, which emphasizes the absurdity of life and the burden of choice, resignation emerges as a response to meaninglessness; the protagonist ceases the search for purpose and merely "is." A prime example is Albert Camus' The Stranger (L'Etranger), where the main character, Meursault, demonstrates complete indifference to the surrounding world and his own fate. His chilling emotional detachment and apathy symbolize a surrender to an absurd existence. In Classical literature, resignation is often tied to unrequited love, social inequality, or political impotence. For instance, in some nineteenth-century realist novels like Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary, characters disillusioned with reality resort to living in a world of illusion or succumb to boredom and apathy, realizing their inability to escape societal norms or their given station. In these examples, resignation serves as a form of passive protest or silent deterioration.

 

Case Studies: Three Dimensions of Surrender

 

1. The Paralysis of Intellect: Shakespeare's Hamlet

In William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, resignation is not presented as utter defeat but as a paralysis of action stemming from metaphysical uncertainty and moral doubt. Hamlet's incessant delay in avenging his father's murder, epitomized by the famous soliloquy "To be or not to be," reflects an existential resignation. Confronted by injustice and corruption, he loses the will to act, as any effort seems futile against the inevitability of fate and death. His resignation is born out of intellectual overthinking and the collapse of ideals—he cannot accept a world that fails to meet his moral standards. This is resignation that paralyzes.

 

2. The Forced Submission: George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four

George Orwell's dystopia Nineteen Eighty-Four features resignation as a devastating consequence of political terror, manifesting as the total destruction of personality and internal submission. The protagonist, Winston Smith, initially attempts to resist the totalitarian regime and preserve his individuality, but following physical and psychological torture in the Ministry of Love, he is utterly broken. Winston's resignation is not a free choice but the annihilation of will and soul—he eventually and genuinely comes to love Big Brother. The cause of this surrender is the absolute power of the state and constant fear. Its meaning serves as a chilling warning of how power can completely erase human self-awareness, reducing an individual to a helpless tool stripped of the internal capacity to protest. This is resignation imposed by force.

 

3. The Tragedy of Feeling: Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther

In Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's novel The Sorrows of Young Werther (Die Leiden des jungen Werthers), resignation results from the absolutization of Romantic love and emotion. Werther is hopelessly in love with Lotte, who is married to another. His resignation stems from an irremediable situation in the private sphere: unable to possess the woman he loves and refusing to accept social conventions and reality, he opts for passivity and ultimately suicide. The cause of this surrender is an intolerance for the limiting reality of the world and an emotional hypersensitivity that fails to adapt. Werther's resignation reflects the collapse of Romantic-era idealism, demonstrating that an over-reliance on feeling without the intervention of reason leads to destruction. This is resignation born of emotional frustration.