Art That Breaks Us
Event Details
‘I fell upon Shakespeare suddenly, and I was struck as though by lighting’. So wrote the nineteenth-century French composer Hector Berlioz in his Mémoires, reflecting on his first encounter with Hamlet, followed days later by Romeo and Juliet.
What he describes is not mere admiration but devastation: art experienced as shock, grief, and prolonged emotional disorientation. This is the opening lecture in the Case for Unhappiness: Arts Against the Tyranny of Positivity, a series that explores the paradox of tragedy—the pleasure found in the representation of suffering—and the enduring human attraction to stories that unsettle and wound us. From Ancient Greek drama to modern literature, music and visual art, artists have repeatedly turned to pain as a source of beauty, truth and insight.
Grounded in aesthetic theory, literary studies, and philosophy, this lively and accessible lecture is designed for curious minds, no prior knowledge is required.
Works which will be referenced include: Antigone (Sophocles), King Lear (Shakespeare), The Awakening (Kate Chopin), Betroffenheit (Crystal Pite and Jonathon Young, which can be viewed at Marquee TV),
JOINING DETAILS:
- Single lecture (with further events to follow at dates to be confirmed) by Dr Julie Sutherland, live on Zoom, followed by live audience discussion moderated by Toby Brothers.
- Thursday 29 October, 5.00-7.00 pm (UK time)
- £25.00 for 1.5 hour lecture with early booking discount price of £20.00 available until 1 October using the code BREAK20) at checkout.
