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Paradox
Explanation and Analysis—Bites But Lanceth Not:
Bolingbroke paradoxically claims that positive thoughts can serve as a liability by heightening the pain of negative experiences. In his final words before leaving England as an exile, he resists the attempts by his father, John of Gaunt, to lighten his mood, stating:
O no, the apprehension of the good
Gives but the greater feeling to the worse.
Fell sorrow’s tooth doth never rankle more
Than when he bites but lanceth not the sore.
His father urges him to think optimistically about his exile by imagining his time away from England as a sort of adventure or holiday rather than a punishment. Bolingbroke, however, refuses to be consoled and claims that these kind words have only increased his feelings of despair. Paradoxically, he insists that the attempt to think positively has only cast his suffering in sharper relief, as “apprehension” or awareness of “the good” merely gives “greater feeling to the worse.” Bolingbroke argues that an optimistic mindset only leads to greater feelings of disappointment when life fails to meet our expectations and our hopes do not come to fruition.
Further, he suggests that a toothache “doth rankle” or hurt the most when it “bites but lanceth not the sore,” or in other words, when the pain is only partially felt and therefore not totally released or resolved. Sorrow, Bolingbroke implies, is even more painful when it is not fully expressed, like a lingering discomfort. At this point in the play, Bolingbroke is inconsolable regarding his exile, and he rejects attempts by his loved ones to cheer him up. Instead, he insists that he must experience his pain thoroughly and honestly.
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