Of Adversity
by
Francis Bacon
(Summary)
The essay deals with the pros and cons of
adversity and prosperity. Bacon draws our attention and keeps our interest
alive through the technique of references and quotations. He gives reference of
a Roman philosopher named Seneca: The good things that belong to prosperity are
to be wished; but the good things that belong to adversity are to be admired.
In this essay, Bacon deals with the familiar idea of adversity which is the
blessing in many ways. For him, the prosperity is easy to handle, but adversity
is too hard. Prosperity is certainly desirable, but adversity is not to be
condemned, deplored or despised. Prosperity enables man to enjoy material benefits
and worldly pleasures, but adversity nourishes a man’s moral and spiritual personality,
and strengthens his inner resources. Bacon refers another statement of Seneca:
true greatness in a human being is to have all the weaknesses of the human, but
the fortitude (strength, sureness) of God. The chief blessing of the adversity
is that adversity brings out all the potential and talent, courage and
fortitude of a man. When a person is blessed with prosperity, he will spend his
resources mindfully because he knows that he is going through a good time, on
the other hand, fortitude means patience, and adversity teaches us fortitude.
Throughout
the essay, Bacon contrasts prosperity, which leads to easy decisions about how
to live one's life, and adversity, which requires strength of moral character that
prosperity does not. For example, Bacon compares Hercules, who sailed in a strong
vessel to free Prometheus from his chains, to the Christian 'that sailed in the
frail bark of the flesh, through the waves of the world'. In other words,
Hercules was sailing in relative prosperity, which made his voyage easy; the
Christian, on the other hand, faces the world in a frail body; in Bacon's view,
the Christian has more fortitude—strength and bravery—because he must take on
the world with the adversity created by his frail body. According to Bacon, in
Christian context, prosperity leads to comfort and therefore to vices, but
adversity, because it requires moral strength, leads to the creation of virtue.
Bacon says that 'virtue is precious odours, most fragrant when they
are—crushed', by which he means that virtues become stronger when they are
'crushed' by adversity. Here, Bacon compares a man's virtue to spices, and then
to flower. The scent of spices becomes stronger as we grind or crush them.
Similarly, the fragrance of the incense becomes stronger when it is burnt. In the
same way, the virtue or inner strength of a man shows itself more effectively
when it is crushed by adversity or when he burns in the fire of misfortune. The
example of flower tells us that if we really want to make our life worthy then
we have to face hardships because a flower's fragrance can be felt only if it
is crushed. In short, Bacon takes the side of adversity and proves it to be a
positive virtue. For him, adversity is a greater blessing than prosperity; it
can teach us something in our life.
In
adverse circumstances, a man learns the lessons of hard work and honesty, and shows
his inner power of endurance. He wants people to think about adversity in a positive
way.
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