Word: stoicism
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...about. He raises questions of appearance v. reality, theory v. practice, but his chief question is: How may half-baked youth be seasoned to maturity? The recipe culled from his books: 1) the skepticism of Montaigne, 2) the craft of Machiavelli, 3) the self-reliance of Emerson, 4) the stoicism of Marcus Aurelius, and 5) the patience of Job. Cozzens' heroes do not "have fun"; they cannot "not give a damn"; they are trying to be responsible grownups in a confusing and dangerous world...
There is a grisly fascination to Author Shute's story of mankind's last days. Yet his characters seem curiously bloodless despite their courage and stoicism. It is difficult to believe that men and women would die as these do-without panic, self-seeking, sexual frenzy, or apocalyptic evangelism. But then it is also difficult to believe in the end of the world...
Other elements, such as naturalism, can be found in Alexandria, but were of minor importance there. It is quite true that a few Hellenes conducted experiments, believed in empiricism, and were interested in efficient causes. But Stoicism replaced Epicurus; Plato and Aristotle succeeded the atomists. Bacon's empirical inheritance came not so much from the ancients as from the alchemists, who, more than any good Greek, committed the sin of hubris in seeking to impose the human will on the natural order...
...Hemingway ring, and not by chance. Social historians could do worse than examine this obituary for evidence of how Hemingway has influenced a whole generation of child actors who have tried to live in the image of his heroes. The book is shot through with the sentimental stoicism of the Hemingway man, and with the hedonist worship of the "art of living," which calls for everything just so-the old-fashioneds must have a touch of honey, the mustache scissors must be of 18th century French make, even the final, fatal razor must be a Rolls...
...modernity, there is a suggestion that Varnoff may be past his prime. His most successful scenes are those in which he looks back on his past with a resigned stoicism. "Home," he says wistfully, "I have no home." Lobo, too, is troubled. Though he starts as a noble savage, soon his soft-heartedness gets the best of him. Troubled by his feelings toward Miss Laughton, he can never be fierce as a monster should. Further encumbered (in a way reminiscent of French classical tragedy) by class prejudices that stifle his love for Miss Laughton, Lobo makes a poor rival...