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Joy of the Worm: Suicide and Pleasure in Early Modern English Literature
Consulting an extensive archive of early modern literature, Joy of the Worm asserts that voluntary death in literature is not always a matter of tragedy.
In this study, Drew Daniel identifies a surprisingly common aesthetic attitude that he calls “joy of the worm,” after Cleopatra’s embrace of the deadly asp in Shakespeare’s play—a pattern where voluntary death is imagined as an occasion for humor, mirth, ecstatic pleasure, even joy and celebration.
Daniel draws both a historical and a conceptual distinction between “self-killing” and “suicide.” Standard intellectual histories of suicide in the early modern period have understandably emphasized attitudes of abhorrence, scorn, and severity toward voluntary death. Daniel reads an archive of literary scenes and passages, dating from 1534 to 1713, that complicate this picture. In their own distinct responses to the surrounding attitude of censure, writers including Shakespeare, Donne, Milton, and Addison imagine death not as sin or sickness, but instead as a heroic gift, sexual release, elemental return, amorous fusion, or political self-rescue. “Joy of the worm” emerges here as an aesthetic mode that shades into schadenfreude, sadistic cruelty, and deliberate “trolling,” but can also underwrite powerful feelings of belonging, devotion, and love.
In this study, Drew Daniel identifies a surprisingly common aesthetic attitude that he calls “joy of the worm,” after Cleopatra’s embrace of the deadly asp in Shakespeare’s play—a pattern where voluntary death is imagined as an occasion for humor, mirth, ecstatic pleasure, even joy and celebration.
Daniel draws both a historical and a conceptual distinction between “self-killing” and “suicide.” Standard intellectual histories of suicide in the early modern period have understandably emphasized attitudes of abhorrence, scorn, and severity toward voluntary death. Daniel reads an archive of literary scenes and passages, dating from 1534 to 1713, that complicate this picture. In their own distinct responses to the surrounding attitude of censure, writers including Shakespeare, Donne, Milton, and Addison imagine death not as sin or sickness, but instead as a heroic gift, sexual release, elemental return, amorous fusion, or political self-rescue. “Joy of the worm” emerges here as an aesthetic mode that shades into schadenfreude, sadistic cruelty, and deliberate “trolling,” but can also underwrite powerful feelings of belonging, devotion, and love.
287 pages, Paperback
Published May 2, 2022
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October 31, 2025
As I said on previous occasions (but am happy to repeat), I take no pleasure in writing negative reviews. I genuinely wanted to enjoy reading "Joy of the Worm" and learn about its perspective on Renaissance literary representations of suicide. Drew Daniel tells the story of an affect (taking pleasure, and even happiness in self-destruction) from 16th to 17th century English literature. His chapters discuss several major authors, including Sydney, Donne, Shakespeare, and Milton among others. Daniel does hit some good notes. The concept at the heart of the book, "joy of the worm", is an intriguing idea, and Daniel does share with us some interesting readings along the way. I think some of the points he makes in relation to Shakespeare and Donne are useful.
The main problem at the core of this study is that it is a pain to get through. There is little joy to be found in the repetitive, digressive, and unfocused parts of "Joy of the Worm" which, unfortunately, fill up way too many pages. The connections between the Renaissance and present culture should have been appealing and revealing. Instead, they come across as forced, uninspired, facile, and frankly tedious. We open a chapter on Sydney or Shakespeare and we suddenly find ourselves reading about Cyndi Lauper, slapstick comedy, and modern-day online discourses on incels. Daniel adds way too many threads that he does not quite develop and this comes at the cost of clarity. The chapters drag quite often. I think the execution is really disappointing. The discussion of Hamlet and trolling is perhaps one of the clearest examples of where things went wrong in "Joy of the Worm". This book should have been at least 50 pages shorter. Many discussions do not really tell us that much about the texts. They just keep delivering ridiculous conceptual maneuvers and maverick theories in an effort to sound profound. It honestly feels as if the author is disrespectfully yelling at his audience "Renaissance English literature is actually not that interesting, so we need to add fancy bits of contemporary stuff to make it more appealing". The result is a misguided, self-indulgent scholarly effort full of unnecessary jargon to hide its basic hollowness.
This book cannot secure a passing grade, in my opinion. I have to choose between 1 star and 2 stars and, although I do not think the book is completely thoughtless, I must give it 1 star only. I really don't think I can go much higher than that. Unofficially, let's say it's 1.5 stars. I do not understand some of the strong scholarly endorsements this book has received since its publication.
From what I heard, Daniel received tenure with his first book, "The Melancholy Assemblage". "Joy of the Worm" is a post-tenure study, so he could take more liberties with his materials. Part of me appreciates his courage, even though the results leave much to be desired. Having said that, I do not think one bad book is an indictment on a scholar's career. I am open to reading Daniel's "The Melancholy Assemblage", and I hope his next book (whenever it comes out) will be much better.
The main problem at the core of this study is that it is a pain to get through. There is little joy to be found in the repetitive, digressive, and unfocused parts of "Joy of the Worm" which, unfortunately, fill up way too many pages. The connections between the Renaissance and present culture should have been appealing and revealing. Instead, they come across as forced, uninspired, facile, and frankly tedious. We open a chapter on Sydney or Shakespeare and we suddenly find ourselves reading about Cyndi Lauper, slapstick comedy, and modern-day online discourses on incels. Daniel adds way too many threads that he does not quite develop and this comes at the cost of clarity. The chapters drag quite often. I think the execution is really disappointing. The discussion of Hamlet and trolling is perhaps one of the clearest examples of where things went wrong in "Joy of the Worm". This book should have been at least 50 pages shorter. Many discussions do not really tell us that much about the texts. They just keep delivering ridiculous conceptual maneuvers and maverick theories in an effort to sound profound. It honestly feels as if the author is disrespectfully yelling at his audience "Renaissance English literature is actually not that interesting, so we need to add fancy bits of contemporary stuff to make it more appealing". The result is a misguided, self-indulgent scholarly effort full of unnecessary jargon to hide its basic hollowness.
This book cannot secure a passing grade, in my opinion. I have to choose between 1 star and 2 stars and, although I do not think the book is completely thoughtless, I must give it 1 star only. I really don't think I can go much higher than that. Unofficially, let's say it's 1.5 stars. I do not understand some of the strong scholarly endorsements this book has received since its publication.
From what I heard, Daniel received tenure with his first book, "The Melancholy Assemblage". "Joy of the Worm" is a post-tenure study, so he could take more liberties with his materials. Part of me appreciates his courage, even though the results leave much to be desired. Having said that, I do not think one bad book is an indictment on a scholar's career. I am open to reading Daniel's "The Melancholy Assemblage", and I hope his next book (whenever it comes out) will be much better.
Displaying 1 of 1 review