FROM ILLNESS TO META-SELVES IN WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S HAMLET AND KING LEAR: NEW IDENTITIES IN THE TIME OF DISEASE

The article investigates pictures of disease and corruption in Hamlet and King Lear and their role in changing identities and creating the concept of the meta-self. Images of rottenness, contagion, ulcers, surgery, diseased bodies, and sickness are displayed and discussed. The research traces three interrelated trajectories. First, it proves that illness and diseases were a major preoccupation in England during the Early Modern period. Second, it demonstrates that diseases could be considered a source of inspiration by playwrights like William Shakespeare. Hamlet and King Lear are depicted as plays teeming with images of contagion, decay, and an unhealthy atmosphere. Third, it examines the link between sickness and the transformation of the main characters in the time of disease. The metamorphosis of the characters follows what Baudrillard calls “hyperreality” or the “traversing” self. The research has corroborated the pertinence of the concept of “the meta-self” as a manifestation of “the transmigratory nature of the text” while dealing with the protagonists of both plays. The meta-self is part of personal identity since self and identity are interrelated concepts. The meta-self is a self that goes beyond challenging social and ethical standards; it shuns dogmatic overconfident beliefs about life and functions as a traversing mind that constantly reassesses the certitudes of humans. The meta-selves become like re-narrated self-narratives. Once told, they help the protagonists reconstruct their identities amid chaos, disease, and pandemics. The article draws a guiding thread tracing the undercurrent dynamic between characters, on the one hand, and disease, on the other. The meta-self is multifaceted; it is not only about mental or psychological growth but also the creation of a new theatrical self. In the transformation process, characters represent theatrical entities and acquire theatrical identities.