You are the main character in your life story
“It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”
― Epictetus
Throughout the play “Hamlet” we can see how the characters act and react to several situations, all characters in the play seem to be constantly "acting" in what is supposed to be real life. Hamlet ,for example, acting “mad” and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern acting like hamlet’s “friends”. But there is a difference; Hamlet seems to be conscious that he is an actor and this is what makes him more authentic.
To me, we are all actors in real life, we cannot judge anyone because we all have our own dramas and we are responsible for writing the script of our own life's stories but have in mind that you are acting, because if you forget it, your authentic self will be lost.
Even though we are constantly acting, what really matters is our reaction when acting, it is the way you react to things that defines you, as in Hamlet, I think that people’s reactions show who they really are, it is easy to play a role to fit in the world but most of the times you cannot control your reactions. Claudius was a very good “king” because it was his role, but he could not hide his feelings when he saw the play, just in that moment he showed his inner self. I think that it is not about his father's ghost, but how Hamlet reacted to it; it is not about revenge, but how Hamlet reacts and acts to take revenge.
Even though we are constantly acting, what really matters is our reaction when acting, it is the way you react to things that defines you, as in Hamlet, I think that people’s reactions show who they really are, it is easy to play a role to fit in the world but most of the times you cannot control your reactions. Claudius was a very good “king” because it was his role, but he could not hide his feelings when he saw the play, just in that moment he showed his inner self. I think that it is not about his father's ghost, but how Hamlet reacted to it; it is not about revenge, but how Hamlet reacts and acts to take revenge.
What defines you is not what happens to you but how your react in front of life. What makes Hamlet a strong character (from my point of view) is the way he reacts throughout the play in front of all the people around him. Nobody knows if it was correct or not to take revenge on his uncle because life is subjective but in the end we are all the only owners of our decisions and reactions.
In this post I am not trying to say that acting is a good or bad thing,
what I mean is that if it works for you go ahead, just have in mind that your
inner-self is going to come out and in that moment your acting is going to be useless. Act when it is neccesary to do it, but do not get use to it if you do not want to live in a play-whitin-a-play for the rest of your life.
Sources:
- http://www.folger.edu/template.cfm?cid=3485
- https://courses.cit.cornell.edu/engl3270/327.meta.html
- shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New Haven and London: Yale University Press 2003
I agree with you in the statement that "we are all actors in real life", and in general your post made me think more deeply not only about the books,plays and stories that we had read,but also about my own life. Sometimes we lost ourselves into those stories, dreaming about having the characters' lifes, but we forget that as we live, we are writing our own story. We forget that we have the chance to live the best story ever written.
ResponderEliminarEvelyn, I think your post highlights a very important aspect of Shakespeare’s plays, which is the idea of metatheatricality. As we have covered in classes, Shakespeare constantly includes metaphors alluding the world of the theatre, such as parts of the stage representing heaven and hell. Hamlet, particularly, embraces metatheatricality in a more evident way: there is a play inside a play. Besides, It’s through the theatrical representation, where everybody is performing his role, that Hamlet is able to actually see his uncle’s “true colours”.
ResponderEliminarI believe is amazing the way Shakespeare makes as conscious about our role as spectators, as well as actors, in our own lives, and I truly agree with you when you say that “What defines you is not what happens to you but how your react in front of life”. At the end, when you are on the stage of the world confronting the unexpected, wearing the masks imposed by society, what really defines you is: whether your response is truthful to the character or to yourself.