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Our pandemic “re-entries” right into a world nonetheless grappling with COVID-19 supply complicated questions that we should navigate by way of the lens of consent. Consent is settlement to do or enable one thing to be carried out, or giving permission for one thing to occur or be carried out — and it’s sure up with respecting one another’s boundaries.
How (and in what type) ought to we meet with folks? When and the way ought to we return to workplaces and school rooms, or social and cultural occasions? Who has the authority to determine? Such selections are being made in actual time — by politicians, human assets workplaces, directors and all of us in every day interactions.
Understanding consent — and its impact on how we get collectively — is vital to avoiding ambiguous and socially awkward encounters and, extra importantly, decreasing the potential for hurt to ourselves and others.
As a scholar of early fashionable drama, I’m concerned with how Shakespeare helps us transfer throughout and between historic, cultural and geographical boundaries, and be extra considerate and empathetic residents. As we transfer in the direction of a post-pandemic world, King Lear — and the character Cordelia from the play specifically — helps us negotiate the complicated panorama of consent that COVID-19 has uncovered.
Withholding consent: An act of resistance
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Students have famous how Shakespeare’s works assist us query issues we thought we knew and relearn classes we assumed we had already mastered.
Because the play opens, Lear gathers his courtroom collectively to announce his retirement. In his ceremonial withdrawal, he instructions his daughters to inform the courtroom how a lot they love him. He advises that when they accomplish that, they are going to be rewarded with their third of the dominion.
The king has set the stage and assembled an viewers to behold what he expects will unfold, however his rigorously stage-managed efficiency is ready as much as fail: Lear didn’t make folks conscious of expectations prematurely and, upon their arrival, they’re caught off guard.
Cordelia, his youngest daughter, agonizes about her awkward place. In an apart, she worries: “What shall Cordelia converse? Love, and be silent.”
Going through ‘ambiguous’ conditions
Many people have discovered ourselves in positions the place somebody acts badly however we’re anxious about talking up as a result of it could be impolite or disruptive. Psychologist Catherine Sanderson categorizes these as “ambiguous” conditions. She notes that
“when dealing with an ambiguous scenario, our pure tendency is to look to others to determine what’s happening.” But when everybody seems to be to others for cues, the behaviour usually goes unchallenged — and folks’s “silence conveys a scarcity of concern, and even tacit acquiescence,” making it much more doubtless that the behaviour will proceed.
When Cordelia realizes her sisters are compliant, she is confronted with a tough resolution. Finally, she chooses to withstand her father’s command, exclaiming:
“I can’t heave / My coronary heart into my mouth.”
She refuses to take part within the love take a look at; in response to Lear’s command, her one-word response (“nothing”) is the alternative of remaining silent. Her reply is a damning indictment of Lear’s home drama. She doesn’t consent.
Studying tips on how to solicit consent
Cordelia’s story doesn’t finish along with her refusal to grant consent. She is exiled and her father denies her the dowry she would want for marriage. Nevertheless, she leaves courtroom along with her integrity intact and a plan to regroup and return. She additionally continues to like her father regardless of his betrayal.
Cordelia is loyal to the very best beliefs of what Lear will be with out judging him for his worst second, and persists in loving him. She teaches him, and us, that we will discover ways to solicit consent.
(Tate), CC BY-NC-ND
When Cordelia is reunited along with her father on the finish of the play, Lear acknowledges anew the reciprocal nature of their relationship, and the necessity to strategy their future interactions by way of the lens of consent. The king says: “When thou dost ask me blessing, I’ll kneel down / And ask of thee forgiveness. So we’ll stay / And pray, and sing, and inform outdated tales, and chuckle / At gilded butterflies, and listen to poor rogues / Speak of courtroom information …”
Lear learns a basic lesson in regards to the energy of consent. He understands he can’t unilaterally decide how their relations unfold.
As an alternative, he sees his position as supplicant when he says “I’ll kneel,” and honours Cordelia’s company and autonomy when he acknowledges it’s her option to ask for his blessing. And he realizes he might want to say sorry.
Learn extra:
Do not stand so near me – understanding consent might help with these tough social distancing moments
Suggestions for the trenches
As we practise new methods of gathering and assembly throughout COVID-19, what classes can we be taught from Cordelia and Lear to assist us navigate the “weight of this unhappy time?”
Take into consideration the aim of the assembly and supply that clear framework for others: “Would you be accessible to have interaction in such a gathering?”
Define, prematurely, the roles and expectations of all of the members: “In asking you to take part, I hope we will sort out (insert assembly aims) collectively.”
Be express in regards to the situations of the proposed assembly and be clear in regards to the parameters. For instance: “We are going to train the next cautionary measures, together with being outdoor, masked, restrict capability, verify double vaccination standing, guarantee correct air flow” as relevant.
Present a dignified means for folks to withhold consent. “In the event you’re feeling overwhelmed by COVID-19, limiting your in-person interactions or for some other cause (that’s none of my enterprise), we will manage a digital assembly or meet at a future date.”
Supply room for a extra nuanced RSVP: “Please point out your degree of availability and/or degree of consolation.”
Be attentive to the uneven entry to energy. Thinker Shannon Day outlines methods we will be attentive to how we occupy institutional and cultural energy and take steps to be extra inclusive and respectful to these whose circumstances are extra precarious and contingent.
Respect that consent will be withdrawn at any time. If the assembly is scheduled prematurely, test in a couple of days earlier than to see if everybody nonetheless feels snug within the mild of regularly altering situations.
Develop a menu of selections for folks to attach: video-conference, telephone name, stroll and speak, chat (Groups, texting, Slack), in-person exterior and so forth.
We have to train crucial empathy to grasp there’s a spectrum of readiness to re-enter the world. If we will make house for consent in all our encounters, we will co-create new methods of being along with compassion. Lear discovered to solicit consent however it was too late to save lots of his kingdom. We ignore these classes at our peril.
Jessica Riddell doesn’t work for, seek the advice of, personal shares in or obtain funding from any firm or organisation that will profit from this text, and has disclosed no related affiliations past their educational appointment.