THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO THE IDEA OF THE CONSOLATORY: THE RHETORIC, ETHICS, AND MORAL PSYCHOLOGY OF CONSOLATION LITERATURE A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE DIVISION OF THE HUMANITIES IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF COMPARATIVE LITERATURE BY STEPHEN MICHAEL PARKIN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS DECEMBER 2019 The Idea of the Consolatory Copyright © 2019 by Stephen Parkin All rights reserved For my wife, Jill: constantiae amorisque praeclara. And for my children, Lenora, August, and Cassandra: aliquid gaudeo discere ut doceam. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... vi Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ ix Preface .......................................................................................................................................... xi A Brief Note on Rhetorical Terminology .................................................................................. xiii Introduction: Problems in the Study of the Consolatory Tradition .............................. 1 A Brief Review of Scholarly Approaches to the Study of Consolation ............................. 3 Overview of Consolatory Theory (Outline of the Argument) .......................................... 9 Case Study Methodology: The Lens of Examples and Vivid Narration......................... 13 Continuing Questions...................................................................................................... 16 Chapter 1. The Consolatory Situation: Occasion, Audience, Consoler, Empathy, Idea ................................................................ 18 Prelude: Defning the Consolatory Occasion .................................................................. 18 Consolation's Complex Audiences .................................................................................. 23 The Consoler: Author and Persona ................................................................................ 33 Empathy and the Consolatory ........................................................................................ 38 Real Consolations and the Idea of the Consolatory ....................................................... 54 Chapter 2. Case Study. Audience, Empathy, and Multivalent Address: The “Rhythm” of Plutarch's Consolation to His Wife ..................................................... 60 Setting the Tempo: Empathy and Audience Formation ................................................ 67 The Baseline Rhythm: Shifting Focus, Drifting Focus ................................................... 71 Collapsed Rhythms: Multivalent Address Through Vivid Description .......................... 80 Climax, Coda, Reprise .................................................................................................... 90 iv Chapter 3. The Therapeutic Program: Consolation, Grief Therapy, and Psychological Resilience .......................................... 94 Modern Empirical Models of Grief Therapy ............................................................... 103 Psychological Resilience: Consolation as the Development of Hardiness and Other Resilience Factors ............. 124 Conclusion: The Principles of Consolatory Therapy ................................................... 130 Chapter 4. The Moral Development Program: Self-Improvement Through Habituation and Preparation, Perspectivism, Ethical Doctrine, Refective Analysis, and Moral Resilience ......... 135 The Classical Roots of Consolatory Moral Development: Self-Improvement Through Preparation and Habituation .......................................... 139 Consolatory Moral Development: Perspectivism, Precepts, Analysis, and Resilience ................................................................................................ 146 Conclusion: The Role of Moral Development in the Consolatory .............................. 174 Chapter 5. Case Study. Seneca's Consolatory Perspectivism: Architectural Exempla in the Consolation to Marcia .................................................... 177 Therapy, Philosophy, Politics, and Society in the Study of Seneca's Consolatory Writings ............................................................. 181 Excursus: The Structure and Argument of the Consolatio ad Marciam ........................... 192 Framing Possible Responses for a Complex Audience: The Exempla of Octavia and Livia ................................................................................. 195 Creating Distance Through Sermocinatio and Exempla ................................................... 205 Three Prosopopoeia and the Formation of Moral Resilience .......................................... 211 The Consolation as a Catalyst for Moral Refection and Moral Education ................. 224 Conclusion: The Consolatory Idea ................................................................................... 232 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................... 243 v Acknowledgements More people than can be acknowledged deserve my sincere gratitude for their support throughout the process of writing this dissertation, as well as for the educational history that undergirds it. Long before I arrived at the University of Chicago, my intellectual journey was shaped by dedicated, accomplished teachers. Ms. Brenda Millay-Mai, Mr. Mike Cantlon, Ms. Jeri Giachetti, and Dr. David Carey have left lasting impressions on all their students, myself very much included. Mr. Jonathan Knight taught me even more about resilience and moral integrity than he did about American history—and he was an excellent history teacher. At Whitman, Dr. Elizabeth Vandiver not only introduced me to classical antiquity, but became a treasured mentor, while Dr. Dana Burgess did more to shape my intellectual disposition than anyone before or since. His aside on an undergraduate paper in the distant past—“I see that studium is important to your argument here”—quite literally catalyzed the scholarly arc to which this dissertation belongs. At the University of Chicago, my studies were enriched by many colleagues, mentors, students, and friends. Many thanks are due to my dissertation committee: Dr. David Wray provided the light hand and gentle guidance that I needed to complete this project, while Dr. Shadi Bartsch-Zimmer challenged, supported, and invited me to deeper insights, from my frst graduate course (a survey of Latin poetry) through the completion of this project. Drs. Glenn Most and Elizabeth Asmis deeply infuenced my intellectual and professional development, all for the better. My fellow Comparative Literature graduate students were a wellspring of inspiration and emotional support. From my cohort, Nana Holtsnider and Dan Olaru provided many hours of friendship, conversation, and commiseration. Through our dissertation writing group, Brian Berry, Chloe Blackshear, and Mollie McFee provided fellowship and support at a crucial time. vi Chandani Patel provided friendship, wise counsel, and professional support for many years. Most of all, Monica Felix became not just a colleague, but a dear friend and spiritual companion during my time in Chicago; without our friendship, my graduate experience would have been inexpressibly poorer in every way. Outside of my department, many people made me feel that the University was my professional home. In the Writing Program and the Chicago Center for Teaching, I found a family of colleagues as dedicated to excellence in teaching as I am. I thank the staff, directors, Lectors, and Teaching Consultants for many stimulating conversations about teaching and learning. At the Writing Program, Dr. Tracy Weiner deserves special acknowledgement for her lasting, and deeply felt, infuence on my professional development. At College Housing, my fellow Resident Heads helped me maintain perspective through the trying and rewarding years at the helm of Phoenix House, while the residents of Phoenix grounded me and reminded me daily of the practical importance of education. Thanks must especially be given to Ajith John for two years of dedication, hard work, and continuing friendship. No scholarship happens in isolation. Outside of the university, Maggie Bridger and Paul Krause provided a much needed anchor to the broader world, not to mention years of transformational friendship and unconditional love for my family. Most of all, my family deserves my deepest, everlasting gratitude. Sandi and Steve provide constant love, support, and compassion. Veronica remains my best friend: your zest for life is infectious and enriches everyone you touch. My parents, Janice and Mike, have shaped me in too many ways to count. From them I have learned, among many other things, the most important qualities in life: kindness, creativity, curiosity, responsibility, empathy, and resilience. Without the patience, love, and spiritual companionship of my wife, Jill, I would be a worse friend, a worse partner, a worse vii parent—a worse person. I am in awe of your beauty, your compassion, and your strength. My love for you grows every day. And, fnally, the most precious people in my life, without whom my life would not be complete: Lenora, August, and Cassandra, you have taught me how to love in ways that I never knew I could. You have brought light and divine joy into my