Variations on a Theme of Shame: Chekhov, Glenn Gould, and the “Cased-In-Man” Syndrome

Shame is the Cinderella of painful emotions, having received less attention than the others (guilt, anxiety, jealousy, anger, and depression), although its potential to transform body, mind, and spirit is enormous. Freud (1896) interpreted shame as a fear of ridicule. Piers and Singer (1953) considered it a failure to live up to one's ego ideals, unlike guilt, which occurs when an external injunction is transgressed. Shame is closely related to identity, Lynd (1958) pointed out, for as we become aware of what provokes it, we become aware of the values underlying our self-system. Lewis (1971) emphasized the global response to shame: the entire self feels helpless, inadequate, fearful of other's disapproval, and desires to hide from human contact. Guilt, on the other hand, is a delimited response to a specific blameworthy action that one has performed. Tomkins's (1987) contribution was to highlight the autonomy of shame: It is not under cognitive control, nor subject to behavioral modification. Sperber (1991) described the wide range of responses to shame, from psychological death to personality transformation.1

This article extends the polar extremes on shame's continuum, from the literal mortification of a Chekhov antihero, Belikov (in “The Man in a Case”), to a degree of self-authentification by Glenn Gould, musical genius and brilliant keyboard-recording artist. Although their ultimate responses to shame differed radically, a striking phenomenological resemblance exists between Belikov and Gould, two peas encased in the same constrictive pod, the pod of shame. A “cased-in man” syndrome, based on characteristics common to both, is delineated herein. It includes