Spice and Salt
“Is not birth, beauty, good shape, discourse, manhood,
learning, gentleness, virtue, youth, liberality,
and such like, the spice and salt that season a man?”
Troilus and Cressida is one of Shakespeare’s lesser known plays, often labeled one of his “problem plays.” It’s not a straight-up epic like The Iliad, the Homeric poem from which Shakespeare draws his source material (i.e., the Trojan War). And although it includes the romantic entanglements between Helen and Paris as well as Troilus and Cressida, it’s not a straight-up romantic tragedy like Romeo and Juliet either.
When critics don’t know how to label something, they simply call it a problem.
However, I don’t find Troilus and Cressida to be a problem play at all – in fact, Shakespeare successfully utilizes the backdrop of the Trojan War to offer some biting commentary on the subjects of greed, lust, warfare, and arrogance that are particularly poignant today.
Who cares if a work of literature defies a convenient label? Not me.
And apparently not one of my favorite authors, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, who said, “I’ve always ignored the labels people put on things.”
(And by the way, if you love books about books and haven’t read The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, go get it today. I could write a whole blog post on my love of that book, set in Barcelona, dripping with intrigue and rich imagery. Maybe I will…)
But back to Shakespeare’s aspects of character that “season a man.”
This “spice and salt” statement made by the aging Pandarus in Troilus and Cressida has always reminded me of the Bible verse about the fruit of the spirit:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
If we could consistently bear the fruit of the spirit, aka the spices and salts that season us, life on earth would be much more pleasant.
In comparing the fruit of the spirit to Shakespeare’s “spice and salt,” I find it fascinating that Shakespeare includes discourse in his list of experiences that season us humans, because during my travels in Greece, discourse was a pervasive topic of discussion among all of the locals I met.
Greece is often said to be the birthplace of democracy, and as a law student, I learned from (*ahem*, was subjected to) the Socratic method of teaching, named after the eponymous Greek philosopher. (Yes, it was terrifying – but don’t take my word for it – I recommend reading Scott Turow’s account of it in his book One L.)
The Socratic method is a dialogue between individuals, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to draw out ideas and underlying presuppositions. Although it can be argumentative in nature, it is not like the mudslinging snark of Twitter, but rather is cooperative, as the participants in the Socratic dialogue seek to learn together rather than insult. The Socratic method requires listening, really listening, to the questions and statements that represent an opposing point of view.
I agree with Shakespeare that discourse (true discourse – in the Socratic sense) is an important spice that seasons us all.
Of course, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control aren’t bad either, and maybe if the characters in Troilus and Cressida had expressed more of those qualities, it would have been a comedy rather than a “problem drama.”
And if we freely expressed the fruit of the spirit, disregarding labels and fear of judgment, we might find more joy and less drama in our lives as well.
What’s your favorite fruit of the spirit? Do you find any of them more difficult than others to maintain? What spice and salt have seasoned your life? Post a comment and let’s share the fruit, spice, and salt of the spirit!
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