The Nobility of Failure
The Nobility of Failure: Tragic Heroes in the History of Japan by Ivan Morris.
The history of an attitude. He traces half a dozen tragic heroes from their initial, meteoric success, through their downfall and honorable deaths. A perfect Aristotelian tragedy except that they don't have a tragic flaw. At least in Japanese eyes. In Japanese eyes, they fell because of their sincerity, their purity, their single-minded devotion. Aristotle might regard it as a fault -- escaping the Golden Mean, or at least not selecting the proper object of loyalty -- but in Japan, that's proof that they really are just too good for this earth.
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The history of an attitude. He traces half a dozen tragic heroes from their initial, meteoric success, through their downfall and honorable deaths. A perfect Aristotelian tragedy except that they don't have a tragic flaw. At least in Japanese eyes. In Japanese eyes, they fell because of their sincerity, their purity, their single-minded devotion. Aristotle might regard it as a fault -- escaping the Golden Mean, or at least not selecting the proper object of loyalty -- but in Japan, that's proof that they really are just too good for this earth.
( Read more... )