In Chapter 2, Zucker argues that Jonson's Epicoene displays "a steady interest in mannered behavior makes it unlike any London-set play that had come before it" (58] and this interest in mannered behavior extends to Bartholomew Fair which greatly expands the scope of that behavior and of what counts as "manners." Zucker argues that Epicoene shows wit (and
witlessness) to be intricately bound to specific details of London life, not some kind of natural quality that stands outside of the material world.
Jordan observed, the assertion of African irrationality and
witlessness was made by way of direct or implied appeals to a pseudoscientific "Chain of Being" in which Africans were represented as being less than human, that is, one step up from apes in a supposed ascent toward the white man.
Before you know it your words of
witlessness are paraded mercilessly on some broadsheet diary page and ridiculed by the Groucho Club's entire membership.
The responsibility of criticism is to begin speaking on the other side of a certain
witlessness we may enjoy if we allow ourselves to be blinded by the radiance of art's bodies.
This
witlessness of the courts and of the intellectuals has been marked in the public discourse by shifts in our language.
In fact, they are a contribution to
witlessness and a barrier to what brings us together."
Herodotus' comment that he was fated to die is an indication of his
witlessness. Gyges has a very passive and fearful psychology and "cries out" at the very idea of Candaules' dreadful plan in an almost feminine alarm, whereas Candaules' wife does not cry out even when the idea is realised, but turns her mind to revenge - showing her greater control.
We are reacting against the humorless,
witlessness of modern liberal life."
And if the nation's cultural landscape eventually looks like the most ravaged sections of western Pennsylvania once did, and the number of people who can distinguish wit from
witlessness and sexual allure from full-frontal exposure is reduced to a corporal's guard, well, that's the cost of doing business.
Sereno's decision to defend herself exposed her lack of court experience as well as her utter
witlessness and childish antics (interrupting the SC justices several times and then throwing accusations at them when she is the one being charged).
Although BBC2's jaw-droppingly dreadful sketch show The Ginge, The Geordie and The Geek takes
witlessness to a whole new level.
For all of the
witlessness which has been served up by the Black Cats this season, their travelling support remains a reassuring constant.
The pathetic is achieved when the protagonist is, by virtue of his
witlessness, his insensitivity, or the very air he gives off, incapable of grappling with a much superior force.
Yet this woeful piece of web
witlessness has had 1,464 hits - and counting.
I'm afraid that Jo and her fellow contestants sum up all that is wrong and shallow in the business world - the fragile, over-inflated egos' the ugly greed and, worst of all, the sheer
witlessness of those involved.
