There is a drivenness in pride that becomes the impetus for our neurotic search for glory. Psychologist Karen Horney identifies this tendency in her book Neurosis and Human Growth, zeroing in on our insatiable quest for the self-actualization of our idealized self. This theme, one might say, is central to our understanding of Jacques-Louis David's painting The Lictors Bring to Brutus the Bodies of His Sons.
The Lictors Bring to Brutus the Bodies of His Sons
David spent two years painting this massive work which measures more than 46 sq. ft. It was completed in the first year of the French Revolution.
What's the story it depicts? Brutus, seated in the shadows on the left foreground, was a founder of the Roman Republic that replaced the monarchy around 509 B.C. He was also one of the assassins of Julius Caesar, referenced in the famous line, "Et tu, Brute?" (Pronounced Bru-tay and meaning, "You also, Brutus? I thought were were friends.")
The painting here depicts another chapter in the life of Brutus. His two sons had conspired to overthrow the young Republic, therefore Brutus ordered them executed. The act of sacrificing his sons for the higher glory of Rome became Brutus' legacy. He wife, with grieving daughters in her arms, reaches toward the slain bodies of her sons which have just been carried in by the servants of the magistrate (lictors). Brutus sitting in the shadows looks away from the corpses with disdain or consternation.
Did David paint this to inspire French revolutionaries to be willing to sacrifice all for the glory of France? Or as a warning in response to the undercurrents that were broiling?
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Brutus killed his sons for the sake of Rome. It was his way of showing that his love for Rome was greater than his love for his children, for which he should be honored. By another standard of reckoning, this act would be condemned and repudiated. Is the painting endorsing Brutus?
What happens when the thing that you do today for the sake of glory becomes something you're ashamed of later? Male machisimo is the first thing that comes to mind for me. Men really can be beasts. The quest for power is at odds with the spirit of servanthood, for example. Fame can be a devious seducer of hearts as well.
A contemporary theme where two different views are colliding has to do with how we protest. Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. come to mind. Their emphasis on non-violence as a mechanism for change is now being repudiated by radicals who say that pacifism doesn't work, that non-violence is fruitless, that action alone gets attention that results in change.
Is that true? Or will this, too, be repudiated in a future where there is more room for civil discourse? The call to arms scares me. What happens when the heroes calling for violent action later have a change of heart, after unleashing forces of destruction?
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Jess Feist in his Theories of Personality amplifies Karen Horney's ideas about the search for glory. "In addition to self-idealization, the neurotic search for glory includes three other elements: the need for perfection, neurotic ambition, and the drive toward a vindictive triumph." In simplest terms: "Pride goes before a fall."
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