In her 'Notes on Spite', has suggested a productive new area for enquiry. What are the great works of art and literary criticism about spite. Hollis says "Spite may be the most undertheorized force in creative achievement.
Hollis says "Spite may be the most undertheorized force in creative achievement. " Is that because spite is so hard to define. Even Johnson could only manage a string of epithets: "Malice; rancour; hate; malignity; malevolence.
Even Johnson could only manage a string of epithets: "Malice; rancour; hate; malignity; malevolence. "Spite is a species of hate, somewhere between revenge and contempt, in which our scorn for an enemy, pest, nemesis, or rival is made into a productive capacity, overwhelming us by becoming the motivating energy of action.