Different people perceive life differently. The theme of life is common in poems and plays. Among the poets and play writers that use this theme in their works are William Butler Yeats, William Shakespeare and Sophocles.
In Shakespeare’s two famous plays; Macbeth and As You Like It, the characters in both of the plays perceive life quite differently. Macbeth feels that life is meaningless. He gives up on life. He sees life as a ‘walking shadow’ and a ‘tale’ that signifies nothing while in As You like It, Jacques compares the stage or the theatre to the whole life of man (seven ‘ages’ altogether). Although Jacques’ view on life is quite similar to Macbeth, he merely tells about the development of a man’s life while Macbeth perceives life as a ‘poor player’; a more negative statement than what Jacques perceives life is.
In Yeats’ Supernatural Songs, he perceives life as full of conflicts; Man must first ‘fight’ his body, then ‘struggled’ with his heart before struggling with his mind and finally he must ‘struggled’ with his faith in God. In Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, life seems to be lead by fate. Oedipus tries to escape from his fate but he did not succeed as it finally turns out that everything that had happened to him is his fate all along just like what the prophecy told; he will kill his father and wed his own mother. Both of the works by Sophocles and Yeats are similar to each other. This is because both characters of the two works endure suffering throughout their lives.
Based on all the examples given, it is true that different people have different views about life. Life should be celebrated even though it is full of challenges. Live life to the fullest!
1 comment:
Shazni, i agree that different people perceive life differently because different people have different exposure and experience in life. Therefore, they have different point of view towards life. I feel that William Butler Yeats' Supernatural Songs, it is very realistic that in life, there are lots of challenges that we need to overcome and indeed it is a suffering. Therefore, Shakespeare and Sophocles view life as a living process on earth and it is determined by fate as well. It is true that no matter what, we still have to go on in life despite of many challenges and live life to the fullest because life is not always permanent, it has changes.
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