HaiDef

I understand rejection sucks, but don't descend into self-loathing. The fact of the matter is that graduate school (and academia in general!) is absolutely structured by rejection of all types, and this rejection has nothing to do with your self-worth or value as an intelligent human being.
You only applied to four grad programs which is very few, especially in the humanities. PhD programs are a crapshoot: I know lots of people (very smart and successful people!) who applied multiple times before getting in. If this is absolutely what you want to do, I'm sure that you can improve your application and cast a wider net in the following year. 
[I also just want to say that our choices in life are hardly ever as binary as you've presented. There are lots of amazing, fulfilling career paths that academic tunnel vision might prevent us from seeing. This is not only unhealthy but also perpetuates some of the hierarchies and inequalities within the academic system itself. I think if this is really what you want to do, learning how to handle rejection and gain a critical distance from academia as an institution will make your journey more bearable.]

I just came to say I've been where you are, and do NOT give up! I am on my third application cycle, and last week received my very first acceptance. Getting into grad school is unbelievably competitive - most schools take less than 10% of applicants - so not getting in the first time is by no means an indication of your "fitness" for graduate school. Getting rejected across the board two years in a row was really disheartening, and there were times I said I wasn't going to go through this whole grueling process again just to try to prove I can hack it to a group of strangers based on a few pieces of paper and an online form.
HOWEVER, after the devastation subsided, I realized changing my viewpoint about the application process to that of a learning experience helped me move forward and try again. Each time I have gone through this, I have learned how to present myself just a little bit better, how to describe my work and my research interests more clearly and succinctly, and how to gracefully handle rejection - which we are going to get a lot of in academia.  Giving up after one cycle, if this is something you really want to do, seems a little premature when you consider how few applicants actually receive acceptance. Also, this cycle is far from over!!