COMMUNISM AND COMMUNITY: FROM SHAKESPEARE TO THELONIOUS MONK

Abstract

At least two visions of communism can be found in Shakespeare’s works, according to Terry Eagleton. On the one hand, as a world of material plenty, as it is described by Gonzalo in The Tempest and, on the other hand, as a system in which each one has just enough resources within a setting of moderate scarcity, according to some statements found in The King Lear. This outlook of communism as material abundance is congruent with the interpretation advanced by Gerald A. Cohen, who compares marxian communism with a jazz band in which, given a background of material richness, each person can pursue her self-regarding ends. This construal goes against the spirit of Marx’s brief anticipations of communism, since it portrays a social world dominated by individual interests, where communitarian bonds are nonexistent. In this article we will analyze, firstly, those two Shakespearean visions of communism in order to establish some links to Cohen’s position. We will argue that the most desirable and perhaps possible perspective —the more attuned to the Marxian vision— is that which is set in a middle ground between the idle plenty without norms described in Gonzalo’s utopia and the inexorable communism that is foreshadowed in The King Lear. Secondly, we will examine the shortcomings of the jazz band metaphor, stressing that mutual indifference and individualism —in a background of limitless abundance— are not in keeping with the spirit of Marxian communism. In the footsteps of Cohen, we will hold, lastly, that communism requires community —or Shakespearean mercy— to temper the sharper edges of institutional egalitarian justice.