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No Perfect Heroes. Revisiting the Heroic Ideal in Manga

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No Perfect Heroes. Revisiting the Heroic Ideal in Manga 111 MY KINGDOM FOR A STAGE NO PERFECT HEROES. REVISITING THE HEROIC IDEAL IN MANGA SHAKESPEARE JULIUS CAESAR ANDREEA ŞERBAN West University of Timişoara Abstract: In recent years manga has become a widely appreciated form of graphic adaptation of Shakespeare’s highly complex works into pop culture. Domesticated in the western world, manga adaptations of Shakespearean plays make them more accessible to younger generations and offer readers a sense of immediacy that the written text alone cannot challenge. This paper explores the ways in which two western manga transmediations of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar offer several (conflicting) perspectives on what makes a man a hero, while also playing with black/darkness and white/light and numerous shades of grey. Heroic conventions and virtues such as dignity and honour, courage and bravery, self-discipline and social responsibility are revised not only by Shakespeare himself, but also by the manga artists in agreement with the medium’s requirements and with their own understanding of the heroic. Keywords: hero, Julius Caesar, manga, Shakespeare, virtue 1. Introduction 1.1. What makes a hero? Although the concept of hero has changed over generations, it is still generally associated with masculinity, bravery, and admiration (cf. Oxford Dictionary 2019), courage and outstanding achievements (cf. Cambridge Dictionary 2019), (semi-)divine origin, nobility of purpose, risk-taking and sacrifice for others (cf. The Free Dictionary 2019). In short, the hero is an ideal man who is other-oriented and willing to sacrifice for a higher cause. Historically, there are two main approaches to heroism before Shakespeare’s time (cf. Norman 2003). For the classical age, the works of Plato, Aristotle and Marcus Aurelius postulate that heroism is the privilege of the few, who are of noble birth – either royal or divine – as well as virtuous, gathering together a series of outstanding characteristics such as courage, pride, honour, justice and magnificence. The classical hero performs extraordinary deeds, fights for honour and glory, undergoes physical suffering, and dies an unusual death in combat. Most importantly, however, the classical hero also has a tragic flaw that will eventually lead to his downfall. On the other hand, the Middle Ages transmute the hero into the Christian knight, who is of common birth but high morals, chaste and loyal, obedient to codes of conduct and chivalry. For the medieval knight, battle is an ongoing test of valour and manhood, as well as proof of his abidance by higher principles. Taking us on a historical journey through the characteristics of the ideal man – a precursor of the heroic model – from the Greek and Roman times up to Shakespeare’s Renaissance, Marta Gibinska (2019) records as crucial traits dignity B.A.S. vol. XXVI, 2020 112 (first mentioned by Cicero), stoicism, reason (as part of the Christian ideal that man was “made in God’s image”), as well as military or political virtues (demonstrated on the battlefield or in the public arena such as courage and bravery, high- mindedness). 1.2. What is a hero in manga? Japanese manga (and anime too, for that matter) – which has soared in the latter half of the 20th century in Japan with the works produced by such skilled artists as Osamu Tezuka – focuses not only on the male or female hero/protagonist’s actions, but more so on his/her motivation, commitment to the cause, and altruism (Levi 1998: 69-70). Tracing the Japanese influence on modern American superheroes, Antonia Levi (1998: 70-71) explains how Tezuka brought a significant update to the modern hero, who is no longer ‘pure’ (i.e. easily categorizable and, consequently, bidimensional), but complex, flawed, and subject to moral ambiguity. In other words, we may talk of a return to Aristotle’s concept of the tragic hero, whose “dignity is located in spiritual and physical courage”, but whose high-mindedness or greatness is put to the test (Gibinska 2019). In the Japanese tradition, heroism is separate from ideology and victory. In both manga and anime, heroism is internal; heroes must be honest and selfless even though their cause turns hopeless (Levi 1998: 72). What matters most is the purity of the hero’s heart and intentions. Furthermore, Levi (1998: 72-76) also identifies three types of male heroes in Japanese manga and anime: predictably, there are warrior heroes who selflessly fight for a good cause, and ordinary heroes whose heroism lies in their remaining true to themselves, the focus being more on their efforts and commitment to the task rather than the prestige associated with its importance or success; finally, the most complex of all is the enemy-hero, whose actions may contradict the purity of his motives and who embodies a more extreme form of the hero’s flaw, which encourages complex emotional responses in readers (Levi 1998:76). Scholars have paid increasing attention to manga in recent years, not just as a new medium of adaptation of canonical texts, but more as a global phenomenon, arguing for the domestication (or appropriation) of manga in the western world (cf. Brienza 2015: 3). Manga adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays have caught the interests of aficionados not only of highbrow literature, but also of pop culture, coming to represent the newest form of (literally) showing Shakespeare and making his work approachable for the younger generations, who prefer a more immediate visual experience to ordinary text reading and who are less patient to go through the whole process presupposed by attending a live theatre performance (buying a ticket, queuing to enter the theatre, watching the play for two or three hours sometimes without intermission). What this paper does is explore the different perspectives on heroism in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, as they are conveyed in two manga transmediations, more specifically Manga Shakespeare: Julius Caesar, a British version edited and abridged by Richard Appignanesi, and Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. The Manga Edition, an American version coordinated by Adam Sexton, both of which were published in 2008 and are part of larger series. In short, the focus will be divided between Shakespeare’s double approach to this complex notion and the more contemporary visual imagery, derived from the manga artists’ understanding of the heroic. 113 MY KINGDOM FOR A STAGE 2. Shakespeare’s (counter-)heroes William Shakespeare is known to play with such complex notions as ‘hero’ and ‘heroism’, on which he offers different – if not conflicting – perspectives. Investigating Shakespeare’s deconstruction of the Renaissance ideal of man, Marta Gibinska (2019) argues that the Shakespearean hero falls short of the ideal man, since neither his “socially noble status”, nor his “outstanding military achievements” “guarantee [his] dignity, or nobility of spirit, or enhanced intelligence, or elevated moral understanding.” Discussing examples from various tragedies and Roman plays, Gibinska further explains that what the outstanding Shakespearean characters show is “some greatness rather than a complete set of virtues” (my emphasis), which is then tested through their actions, while the actual discourse tests the concept of heroism as an ideal. Before proceeding to the analysis of Shakespeare’s heroic examples in the Roman play Julius Caesar, let us first consider what a Roman hero is all about. Examining the concept of ‘Romanness’ in Shakespearean texts, Coppélia Kahn (1997: 14-15) identified “virtus” as its prime component, whose achievement both defines and drives the masculine hero; this hero tests his masculinity against a male rival whom he emulates first “by imitating [him] as a mirror-image of an ideal self, and [then] by competing against [this rival] with the aim of excelling and dominating” (idem: 15). Romanness thus comes to be associated with a set of virtues that include masculinity, rivalry, courage, honour, and – in Julius Caesar – republicanism too, read as “the political philosophy of Roman aristocracy” (Chernaik 2011: 80). Deriving from the Roman code of honour, suicide was, for Shakespeare’s audience, another core constituent of Romanness (Kahn 1997, Braden 2014), which relied on the ideology of masculinity. Investigating the ethics of suicide for the English Renaissance audience, Braden (2014: 42-43) argues that a significant distinction should be made: on the one hand, there are heroic suicides (read as noble, honourable deaths in the Roman tradition), which are defiant in tone, can be paralleled to self-martyrdom and occur on stage, while, on the other hand, there are suicides as acts of despair and self-destruction that usually occur off stage. This “virtue in the face of death” (idem: 48) demonstrates a greatness of the soul which the noble suicide involves, and made Romans almost enviable to Christians; moreover, it is also one of the reasons why suicide appears in Shakespeare’s Roman plays repeatedly, memorably, and with unusual rigour (idem: 37). Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar makes no exception to the arguments above, singling out no less than three outstanding characters – Brutus, Caesar, Mark Antony –, all of whom eventually do not measure up to the heroic ideal. Although the actual word “hero” never appears in the play, the concept is associated with other key terms such as “Roman” (used 17 times), “noble” (and its variants “nobly” and “noblest”, 43 times), and “honour(s)” or “honourable” (34 times). Warren Chernaik (2011: 79) writes that, throughout the play, the word “‘Roman’ is a highly charged term, implying possession of moral qualities – constancy, fidelity, perseverance, self-discipline, respect for tradition, a sense of honour – or a claim that others lack such qualities.” The overall implicature is that the term “Roman” comes just shy of equating “hero”. Also, when Brutus meets the other conspirators to make plans (II.1), he lists the Roman qualities, which include truthfulness to one’s word, honour, and freedom. The implication of his speech is that the conspirators’ cause is just, their motivations honest, disinterested and bent on the welfare of the larger community, “the good of Rome” (III.2.1580).
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