Clavis Libri

Theme

Action and Inaction

The axis between acting and not acting: hesitation, paralysis, thinking that postpones doing, the decision that is never made.

Notes from Underground

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky

neither hero nor insect (Part One, ch. I), the first causes that paralyze (Part One, ch. V), the respectable idler (Part One, ch. VI), conscious inertia (Part One, ch. XI), the bump rehearsed for a long time (Part Two, ch. I), the dreams of heroism (Part Two, ch. II), the relief at finding the room empty (Part Two, ch. V) and the run that ends at the corner (Part Two, ch. X).

Hamlet

William Shakespeare

the monologue on Hecuba in scene 2 of Act II, the prayer spared in scene 3 of Act III, the plain of Fortinbras in scene 4 of Act IV, and the “readiness” of scene 2 of Act V.