How a play, novel, and monologue can answer life's most difficult question
- renitazadeh
- Jan 8, 2019
- 2 min read
The literary works: Hamlet, Station Eleven, and the Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock, each include a character who is looking for answers to one of the most complex philosophical questions–what is the meaning of life? Characters Hamlet, Kirsten, and the speaker of the monologue each have a compromised state of mental health which allow them distinct opinions regarding their perception of life. The answers they present are each based on their individual circumstances.
Hamlet is a suicidal character who suffers betrayal from all those who are close to him after already trying to cope with the death of his father. The painful and consecutive events severely impact his mental health causing him to view life in a negative way. He ponders the idea of what is to come after death as well as the significance of life throughout the entire play. He then develops his own definition for a human’s purpose on Earth: that the lives we live have no significance once we die, and that our true purpose is fulfilled when our corpses serve as food for the worms.
A lighter perspective on life is taken by Station Eleven’s character, Kirsten. Growing up without parents in a dangerous environment while living in fear for her life is Kirsten’s reality. Although traumatizing and damaging to her mental health, she develops an appreciation for art as an important connection to humanity while living by the notion that “survival is insufficient”.
Also looking for answers is the speaker in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. The insecure, nervous and lonely middle-aged man suffers social anxieties and a problem with his identity. His mental health issues prevent him from progressing through society. Since he is unable to maneuver through the world, he gains a frustration trying to discover what life means to him. He believes that the answer may be love but lacks the confidence to act on it.
Hamlet and Kirsten develop their own answers to the questions on life, its meaning, along with its significance while the speaker in The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock struggles to find his answer in a world he does not understand. Each character’s opinion varies since our perceptions solely depend on our individual experiences and how life itself has treated us.
Very Insightful blog Renita! I like how you connected the 3 pieces and took notice of how each of the characters included their own comment and opinion on what the meaning of life was. I found it quite humorous how you noted Hamlet’s point of view on life was that “our true purpose is fulfilled when our corpses serve as food for the worms.” When I first read this passage in the playwright, I highlighted how blunt and straightforward of a character Shakespeare had made Hamlet, as this section truly defined Hamlet as a character. With Kirsten, growing up without parents allows her to appreciate everything she is given despite her trauma, her dangerous environment, and the lack of safety…
Hey Renita, it was interesting to read about how you related these three different types of literature through the meaning of life and also their similar mental issues. I agree with the fact how you said that Hamlet and Station 11 were more similar in terms of both of them answering their own questions about life while Prufrock struggles, concluding that everyone’s experience is always different. It was interesting to see your views on depicting the different ways you saw these characters journey through to find their answers. Overall, I think all the texts you chose were amazing choices, great post!