Eastern Illinois University The Keep Masters Theses Student Theses & Publications 1960 A Study of Motivation in Selected Plays of Shakespeare's Plays Robert Edward Zimmerman Eastern Illinois University Follow this and additional works at: https://thekeep.eiu.edu/theses Part of the Literature in English, British Isles Commons Recommended Citation Zimmerman, Robert Edward, "A Study of Motivation in Selected Plays of Shakespeare's Plays" (1960). Masters Theses. 4682. https://thekeep.eiu.edu/theses/4682 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Theses & Publications at The Keep. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of The Keep. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A STUDY OF MOTIVATION IN .SELECTED PUl3iLIC.SPEECHES OF SHAKESPEARE 1 S PLAYS A Thesis Presented To East ern Illinois Un i versity Charleston, Illinois In Partial Fulfillment Of The Re quirements For The Degree n Mast.er of Scie ce in Education Plan A by Ro bert Edward Zimmerman - July, 1960 Approved: Dr . Steven M. Buck i Dr .• Donald F. -Tingle� Dr. J. Glenn1Ross .337956 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION 0 0 • 0 • • CJ> 0 • • • • • 0 • • • • 0 • 0 1 EXPLANATION OF MOTIVES • • • • • �� e e o o o 0 • • • • • 0 • . ·• . 5 T HE ELIZABETHAN AUDIENCE • ., .. 0 • • • • • • • e • • . .. • 0 • • 8 SPEECHES IN PLAYS 0 • THE THE • • • & 0 • • 0 0 0 • 0 • • • • 10 CONCLUSION 0 -• • • • 0 • • • • o • • • o o e • 0 .. o • o e • " ...31 B IBL;tOGRAPHY • • • • • • • o • • o·· o • • • o • •e•o�• • • • • 32 APPENDIX • • 0 e ·O ·O 0 .. 0 • 0 • -� • • • • 0 • 0 • • • • 0 0 • 0 33 iii INTRODUCTION The aim of this paper is to study selected plays of William Shakespeare with the idea of revealing the motives . to which his charac- ters appealed in their public speaking situations. One -aspect of the problem was to decide upon categories of human needs, or desires, that would serve as a basis for classifying motives. Aristotle,· in his Rhetoric and Poetics puts down seven causes of human action. The first thr·ee, chance, nature, compulsion, are said to be involuntary. The next four, habit, reasoning, anger, appetite, are thought of as voluntary. He calls attention.to wealth and power. Aristotle ·also lists the following emotions and qualities as -possible appeals: pity, fear, spite, calmness, friendship, hatred, shame, indig­ nation, envy, and sexual passion.,1 It is evident, however, that such basic emotions as anger, fear, spite, hatred, shame, envy, and indignation are not the most desirable qualities .to which a speaker can appeal. If this be true, we find Aristotle's list of emotions to be somewhat top-heavy in terms of unde- sirable states, and with the exception of the reference to wealth and power, could not.be used too effectively where the speaker wishes to appeal to the ''better nature" of his audience in order to move them to action. 1.A'.ristotle, Rhetoric and Poetics, trans., w. Rhys Roberts and Ingram Bywater (New York: Mc;°dern Library, 1958), pp. 249-260. 2 Arthur Edward Phillips , in his book ent itled Effective Speaking, describes seven "impel ling motives11 as usable by speakers. They are: sel f-preservat ion, property, power , reputat ion, affection, sent iments , 2 and tastes . Although Ph illips borrowed from ancient , medieval, and modern rhetoric , as well as from the psychology of the early twentieth century , he unconsciously laid the foundat ion for much of what has since been written about audience mot ivat ion. For examp le, James A. Winans , in his Public Speaking, accept s 3 Ph illips' classificat ion of impelling mo tives as springs of human act ion. Sandford and Yeager, in Principles of Effective Speaking, a widely used current textbook, suggest a slight modificat ion of Phillips0 list, as fol lows: self-preservat ion, sex attraction, property, power , reputa- tion , prot ect ion for others, and sat isfaction of att itudes, interests, and purposes. 4 · Alan H. Monroe states that there are an infinite number of specific human want s, but puts down wh at he feels are the primary mot iv es which influence human beings. Monro e says that beh ind every act , belief, or emot ion will be found one or more of th ese bas ic desires: 1. Se l f-preservat ion and the desire for phys ical we ll being. 2. Freedom·from external restraint. 3. Preservat ion and increase of self-esteem (ego expans ion). 2 Arthur Edward Ph illips , Effective Speak ing (Chicago: The Newton Company , 1924), pp. 105-119. 3 James A. Winans , Public Speaking (New York: The Century Press Company, 19 17) . 4t.Jilliam Sandford and William Yeager, Princ iples £! Effective Speaking (New York: The Ronald Press Company , 19 50), p. 138. 3 4. Preservation of the human race. Monroe goes on to say that an appeal to some sentiment, emotion, or desire by which the speaker might set the primary motives into action is called a motive appealo He also lists a number of specific human wants that contain specific desires and sentiments to which he feels appeals are almost universally effect iveo These are, in part, as follows: acquisition and savinge ••co mpanionship •••independence, loyalty •••personal enjoyment. .. power and authority, pride •••reverence or worship •••sex attraction, and sympathy.5 It is not pro fitable here to extend references to the works of scholars who have studied motivation in connection with public address. a Suffice to say, an unsatisfied want produces in man a state of nervous- ness or tension which persists un�il the want is satisfied. The notion that wants produce tensions which motivate behavior is known as the , homeostatie theory. In general, the homeostatic theory assumes that men desire to attain and maintain certain biological and social states that arise from innate factors or from learning or from both. Tension is man produced in when these states are not attained or when, having been attained, they are not maintained. This tension contains the energy for action, and it subsides when the need (desired state) is s_atisfied. 6 Studies of audience motivation show at least two distinct groups of springs of action: (1) emotional attitudes, and (2) individual wants., 5 Alan H. Monroe, Principles and Types of Speech (Ch icago: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1955), PPo 195-196. 6 wayne c. Minnick, The � of Persuasion (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1957), p. 204. 4 Emotional attitudes depend upon a kind and intensity of feeling whereas individual desires (wants) spring hief y from basic needs social c l and o desires. lt is with this latter group of m tives -- wants -- that the writer wishes to concern himself . an wan In effort to settle upon a list of human ts to be used as a criterion for the measuring of the appe ls in public speeches in selec- a ted Shakespearean plays, it was evident that almost any of the before- discussed lists could (in total or in part) be used. ince any list of S I n e human wants , however, must of ec ssity be incomplete and/or overlapping to some extent, and since basic emotional attitudes such as envy, hate, an fear, and ger, because they do not represent either personal or social to wr of desires, are be excluded, the iter settled on the list human as fu wants set down by Phillips most representative and use l in the present analysis and most adaptable to the classification of public speaking appeals in ?hakespeare's plays. In short, Phillips' list of "impelling motives" seems best to serve the writer's purpose •. EXPLANATION OF MOTIVES These universal desires of man, as Phillips classifies them, begin with what is in his opinion the strongest, self-preservationo Man's concern with self-preservation applies not only to this life, but to the hereaftero The attainment of 11heaven" rather than an eternity in "hell" is the concern of much of the wol'.'ld's population., Manv;s desire for self­ preservation means his desire for a happy prolonged life, free from pain, disease arid oppression, and from natural dangers such as fire and famine. A speech, therefore, which aims at convincing the listener that a certain course of action will result in freedom from these threats is an 7 appeal to the impelling motive of self-preservation. Second on Phillips' list, although not necessarily second in strength, is the motive of property. This means the .desire for overt signs of social status, the "success symbols." All men, Phillips says, desire land, money, and wealth. The strength of this motive depends on the character of the particular man. Although the motive is present in all men, an appeal to the impelling motive of property is especia lly 8 effective on the man in which the motive is the strongest. "The desire to excell along any line of endeavor," is called the impelling motive of power. Third on Phillips' list, this is the "desire 7 Phillips, ££.• cit. , p. 106. 8 Ibid. 6 to possess intellectual, moral and phys ical strength ," and is the classification under which nearly all amb itions fall, including desires for polit ical, social , and commercial supremacy. As with all the motives, except that of self-preservat ion, the strength of the mot ive of power depends on the individual. One person may prefer intellectual prowess , another social or polit ical excellence , and still another phys ical 9 s tr ength . Reyutation is the impelling mot ive rising from the des ire for good will and favorable opinion of others. Among most persons, this mot ive is strong. There are men and women who would rather die than los e their reputations.