Death is in the domain of faith. You are quite right to believe that you are going to die, of course; it keeps you going. If you don’t believe that, could you bear the life you have? If one wasn’t solidly based on that certainty that it will end, could you bear this tale; nevertheless it’s only an act of faith; to top it all, you are not sure of it.
LACAN, 1981
No, to be sure, laughter will remain the common man’s recreation. But what will happen if, because of this book, learned men were to pronounce it admissible to laugh at everything? Can we laugh at God?
Jorge de Burgos to William of Baskerville, in The Name of the Rose, 1986
Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave
My heart into my mouth. I love your Majesty
According to my bond, no more nor less.
SHAKESPEARE, no date, 1.1:100-102
References:
LACAN, Jacques. 1981. ‘La Mort Est Du Domaine De La Foi’ [conference at Louvain, 13 October 1972]. Translated into English by Anthony Chadwick. Available at: https://www.lacanianworks.net/?p=12522 [accessed 8 October 2021].
The Name of the Rose. 1986. [Film]. Jean-Jacques Annaud. dir. USA: Twentieth Century Fox
SHAKESPEARE, William. (no date). The Tragedy of King Lear. Edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. USA: Folger Shakespeare Library. 1.1:100-102. Available at: https://shakespeare.folger.edu/downloads/pdf/king-lear_PDF_FolgerShakespeare.pdf [accessed 8 October 2021].
Sound Sample of Human Heartbeat:
SIMION, Daniel. Human Heartbeat. Available at: https://soundbible.com/2162-Human-Heartbeat.html [accessed 8 October 2021]. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ [original sound file was not modified by the author].