The resenter dreams of destroying someone who appears invulnerable. The lover, on the contrary, makes every effort to fortify his beloved against the mortality he shares with her. Thus even as I work for my beloved's infinite happiness, I cannot wish that this happiness not continue to require my care. Were my love's aim fulfilled and my beloved rendered invulnerable to death, the scene of my love would vanish. But their symmetry is not perfect.
Vulnerability is the lot of all mortal creatures.
However much energy I expend in caring for my beloved, my care will never abolish the human scene on which it acts. In contrast, resentment is paradox here and now . The pathology of Hamlet's delay in murdering Claudius is already revealed in Act I, where he wears mourning in council and affects to regard the new King with disdain. If he really disdained the King's court, he would go back to Wittenberg. No Don't ask If you liked this column, subscribe to the galist and you'll receive updates about our on-line journal Anthropoetics and get Chronicles of Love and Resentment every week by email .