--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Allowed to cast themselves for great…" description: "\"“Allowed to cast themselves for great tragic roles, they were experiencing the exhilaration felt by great tragic actors. It was not lack of control, la..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48a/rebecca-west-1248_death_allowed-to-cast-themselves-for-great-tra_2987928.jpg" --- # Allowed to cast themselves for great tragic roles, they… ![“Allowed to cast themselves for great tragic roles, they were experiencing the exhilaration felt by great tragic actors. It was not lack of control, lack of taste, lack of knowledge that accounted for permission of what was not permitted in the West. Rather was it the reverse. Our people could not…” quote by Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48a/rebecca-west-1248_death_allowed-to-cast-themselves-for-great-tra_2987928.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48a/rebecca-west-1248_death_allowed-to-cast-themselves-for-great-tra_2987928.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48a/rebecca-west-1248_death_allowed-to-cast-themselves-for-great-tra_2987928.jpg) > ““Allowed to cast themselves for great tragic roles, they were experiencing the exhilaration felt by great tragic actors. It was not lack of control, lack of taste, lack of knowledge that accounted for permission of what was not permitted in the West. Rather was it the reverse. Our people could not have handled patients full of the dangerous thoughts of death and love; these people had such resources that they did not need to empty their patients of such freight.”” [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage critiques Western restrictions on tragic expression, arguing that people lacked the capacity to handle dangerous thoughts of death and love, so they were denied such roles. **In simple terms:** Western limits on tragic art stem from perceived societal fragility. Key Takeaway Consider the balance between artistic freedom and societal readiness. Themes art censorship tragedy Mood critical analytical Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - theatre - literary criticism Key Concepts psychology culture freedom of expression Questions to Reflect On - Should societies expose audiences to intense emotional themes? - How does cultural readiness affect artistic expression? A Different Perspective Censorship may stifle necessary discourse. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Death and love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death-and-love/) [Lack of control](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lack-of-control/) [Lack of knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lack-of-knowledge/) ## Related quotes > [“We're tragic actors in a world of comedy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cody-edward-lee-miller/we-re-tragic-actors-in-a-world-of-comedy/) [Cody Edward Lee Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cody-edward-lee-miller/) > [Directors are not worried about casting beautiful women, but they are not sure that they want to cast great-looking men. My looks have prevented…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-lowe/directors-are-not-worried-about-casting-beautiful-women-but-they-are-2/) [Rob Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-lowe/) > [Directors are not worried about casting beautiful women, but they are not sure that they want to cast great-looking men. My looks have prevented…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-lowe/directors-are-not-worried-about-casting-beautiful-women-but-they-are/) [Rob Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-lowe/) > [Igby was a really good opportunity for me to grow up. The cast was great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kieran-culkin/igby-was-a-really-good-opportunity-for-me-to-grow-up-the-cast-was/) [Kieran Culkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kieran-culkin/) > ['Cuckoo's Nest' came along, and I was cast, and that was great, but it was my first film, so I felt like I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-lloyd/cuckoo-s-nest-came-along-and-i-was-cast-and-that-was-great-but-it-was/) [Christopher Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-lloyd/) > [My absolute favorite thing about working on 'Liv and Maddie' is my cast and crew. The people that I spend almost every hour of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dove-cameron/my-absolute-favorite-thing-about-working-on-liv-and-maddie-is-my-cast-2/) [Dove Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dove-cameron/) > [I shot all my stuff on 'Arrested Development' in one day, and was brought into a really well-oiled machine. 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I felt as my life had only recently begun and now it would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meredith-taylor/what-a-short-time-i-had-been-given-to-experience-love-i-felt-as-my/) Meredith Taylor > [“Death is sometimes kinder than Love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/death-is-sometimes-kinder-than-love/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [ “To Americans, time always sounds like a parade chez vous \[at your house\], a triumphant parade, like armies with banners entering a town .… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/to-americans-time-always-sounds-like-a-parade-chez-vous-at-your-house/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“I think first of the children. What the hell am I supposed to tell them? Then I think about money, the house, all those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-celebi/i-think-first-of-the-children-what-the-hell-am-i-supposed-to-tell/) [Shannon Celebi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-celebi/) > [“The heaviness of loss in her heart hadn't eased, but there was room there for humour, too.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nalo-hopkinson/the-heaviness-of-loss-in-her-heart-hadn-t-eased-but-there-was-room/) [Nalo Hopkinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nalo-hopkinson/) > [“Let the pain & suffering of all that appears to be lost, be soothed, healed & comforted.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleesha/let-the-pain-suffering-of-all-that-appears-to-be-lost-be-soothed/) [Eleesha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleesha/) ## More by Rebecca West > [I see the main problem of my life, and indeed anybody's life, as the balancing of competitive freedoms ... a sense of mutual obligations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/i-see-the-main-problem-of-my-life-and-indeed-anybody-s-life-as-the/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [“There is, of course, no reason for the existence of the male sex except that sometimes one needs help with moving the piano.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/there-is-of-course-no-reason-for-the-existence-of-the-male-sex-except/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [“At the top of a hill our automobile stuck in a snowdrift. Peasants ran out of a cottage near by, shouting with laughter because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/at-the-top-of-a-hill-our-automobile-stuck-in-a-snowdrift-peasants-ran/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [We all drew on the comfort which is given out by the major works of Mozart, which is as real and material as the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/we-all-drew-on-the-comfort-which-is-given-out-by-the-major-works-of/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [Christianity must be regarded not as a final revelation but as a phase of revelation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/christianity-must-be-regarded-not-as-a-final-revelation-but-as-a/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [Art and propaganda have this much connection, that if a propaganda makes art impossible, it is clearly damned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/art-and-propaganda-have-this-much-connection-that-if-a-propaganda/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [The American struggle for the vote was much more difficult than the English for the simple reason that it was much more easy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/the-american-struggle-for-the-vote-was-much-more-difficult-than-the/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [ Like all bad drivers, he \[Henry Andrews\] thought he was the best driver in the world... ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/like-all-bad-drivers-he-henry-andrews-thought-he-was-the-best-driver/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [The childhood of the individual and the race is full of fears, and panic-stricken attempts to avert what is feared by placating the gods…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/the-childhood-of-the-individual-and-the-race-is-full-of-fears-and/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [Humanity is never more sphinxlike than when it is expressing itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/humanity-is-never-more-sphinxlike-than-when-it-is-expressing-itself/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [ \[On Jane Austen:\] To believe her limited in range because she was harmonious in method is as sensible as to imagine that when the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/on-jane-austen-to-believe-her-limited-in-range-because-she-was/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [a good oyster cannot please the palate as acutely as a bad one can revolt it, and a good oyster cannot make him who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/a-good-oyster-cannot-please-the-palate-as-acutely-as-a-bad-one-can/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [If there is a God, I don't think He would demand that anyone bow down or stand up to Him. I often have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/if-there-is-a-god-i-don-t-think-he-would-demand-that-anyone-bow-down/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [Any authentic work of art must start an argument between the artist and his audience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/any-authentic-work-of-art-must-start-an-argument-between-the-artist/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [... there has never been a period in history when there have been necessary killings which has not been instantly followed by a period…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/there-has-never-been-a-period-in-history-when-there-have-been/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) [Explore all 264 Rebecca West quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) ## More Death quotes > [“He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-wondered-how-it-was-fair-that-your-dying-should-depend-so-much-on/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. 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Then his eyes turned to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-anthony-torino/what-did-you-see-she-asked-gently-his-brow-furrowed-as-if-he-could/) J. Anthony Torino > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“I practice Dying--every night-- But have not learned to, still-- Though Talented--by Mortal bones-- For such a common Skill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-powers/i-practice-dying-every-night-but-have-not-learned-to-still-though/) Alan W. Powers > [“You must understand the pain and grief of losing someone is nothing more than a function of survival.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-cooper/you-must-understand-the-pain-and-grief-of-losing-someone-is-nothing/) [Steven Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-cooper/) > [I am not a depressive person at all, but I reflect a lot on my life, and life in general, from the perspective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-am-not-a-depressive-person-at-all-but-i-reflect-a-lot-on-my-life/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [“Death is a reality that calls the rest of life and all of our assorted strivings into sharp relief.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/death-is-a-reality-that-calls-the-rest-of-life-and-all-of-our/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [I love life. 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