Procrastination, My Most Ironic Blog Post

Procrastination, My Most Ironic Blog Post

To procrastinate, or not to procrastinate, that is the question that will ever take the reigns of my life. I find myself writing this the night before the deadline where I must post my writing to be judged by the world, and most notably Mr. Ferrebee. Like Hamlet I tend to find myself in a whirlpool of impulsivity and half rational actions. I am a labeled procrastinator.

Like the author of the BBC article, my work is most likely to be completed 12 to 4 hours before it is due. I work when I am under stress and in dire need of completing something. Out of the article I have found my new favorite quote, "I love deadlines - I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by." Story of my life. It is not only in academics that I procrastinate, but in my everyday life as well. My decision making process hits an all time climax minutes before the decision is to be made, or sometimes even afterwards when my life becomes clouded with regret. My essays are turned in as soon as my inbox crams up with angry emails from my parents living abroad and becoming fond of the new “missing assignment” email system. Like Hamlet I suffer from my indecisions and ponder doing something for longer than it takes to actually get it done. Killing King Claudius took Hamlet a mere fencing match. He ranted about it for a whole Shakespearean play. This blog post was pondered about for at least a week before I sat down, listened to every new song on Youtube, discovered a series or two, and finally got down to opening up a word document titled, “Procrastination.” Oh the irony.

Yet the truth is, as a human race we are al pre-formatted to be procrastinators. There are islands of floating plastic, yet we still resort to buying a 3 dollar water bottle. There are holes in the O-Zone, yet we still buy Hummers. Shakespeare knew before all of us that procrastination was a common human characteristic; inevitable, and the common cause of humanities lack of action. Unlike the author of “View Point: Why do we procrastinate so much?” I am realistic about my procrastination; those days will be never ending. 

Prison Hamlet

Prison Hamlet

Prison grounds would be the last place anyone would expect people to appreciate the genius works of Shakespeare. Yet, it turns out to be the one place where the actors can fully take on the characters roles emotionally. They all knew what it was like to ponder and feel guilt after a crime. They could take on their roles in first person.

The majority of these prisoners come from very rough backgrounds where being the meanest and toughest guy was what helped them to survive in their environment. These are people who most likely lack a good education. It is fascinating how one woman, Agnes, could get them to interpret and understand Shakespeare’s genius work of Hamlet. It is difficult to get a class of educated wealthy teens to appreciate Shakespeare, and much more a group of emotionally and psychologically broken down prisoners. When one of the prisoners talks about taking upon the role of the ghost and feeling the words as if the man he killed, William Pride, was talking to him it was very emotionally striking. The prisoners could also reflect on themselves and how they had changed while rehearsing the play. It was almost therapeutic, and better than any psychological practices they had been exposed to. The prisoners realized that they were no longer the criminals they used to be, and that they deserved their punishment even though they knew they were changed men. They matured.

Jack Hitt, the narrator also went through an interesting moment with the prisoners as he began to read their files and discover their crimes. He had developed bonds with the prisoners so it was shocking to discover how bad the crimes were that they had committed. He knew they were changed men because he had been working and creating friendships with them, yet there was something still very unsettling about discovering the darkness in their treacherous past.

Upon listening to the pod cast it becomes obvious what the audience is supposed to grasp from the story. To really understand and become the character you are interpreting, you have to place yourself in that characters scenario. You have to tap into your feelings from your past and use it to portray the characters emotions and expressions. The prisoners were able to come in touch with a part of them that they probably didn’t know was still there. These are men who have been dehumanized. They were losing their ability to come in touch with their sentiments. They were losing their passion for life. Interpreting the play made them feel human for the short time they were rehearsing. The feeling James Word describes having when he was praised for his performance almost restores faith for these men to get better. It the prisoners feel like they were something more in society than just the man the world could look down on. 

The Love Song and Hamlet

The Love Song and Hamlet

The Poem by T.S Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, deals with the theme of indecision and growing old. In Shakespeare's Hamlet these themes, along with the theme of procrastination, become evident as well while reading the play. The main characters from both works of literature struggle, trapped in the elite society they were born into. Hamlet trapped among the royal blood of his family and J. Alfred Prufrock among the “women come and go Talking of Michelangelo.”

As Eliot writes, “To wonder, “Do I dare?” and, “Do I dare?”” I think of prince Hamlet who struggles with the idea of trying to kill his uncle Claudius. The whole play is written around Hamlet's indecision and procrastination when pondering the idea of killing his uncle. At one point Hamlet contemplates suicide with the famous words, “To be or not to be.” These words are very much like Eliot’s “To wonder, “Do I dare?” and, “Do I dare?”” Both characters are faced with decisions that have been thrust upon them, yet they are too cowardly to face and deal with them. The main character in T.S Eliot’s poem however differs from hamlet, “No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was I meant to be; Am an attendant lord, one that will do To swell a progress, start a scene or two, Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool” He is less than Hamlet, and has less power over his decisions than Hamlet. He compares himself to a secondary character, which implies that he depreciates and demeans his role in society.

The poem leads into a drearier and less hopeful theme about the tragedy of growing old and the eventual meaningless life we all lead. It comes from the point of view of the main character that looks back and regrets what he hasn’t accomplished in his lifetime. It leaves the audience pondering the idea that in the end we will all grow “bald spots” and we will all eventually encounter death. So what does it matter if we decide to act in our lifetime? The scene in Hamlet, where he is speaking to a gravedigger is very much like Eliot’s interpretation of growing old. The gravedigger shows Hamlet the jesters skill and shows him how in the end it doesn’t matter if the skull was royalty or a royal servant, in the end it is just a skull. Both characters come to the realization that the elitist society they are condemned to is meaningless.