The Influence Death Holds Over One’s Potential “Death is not the opposite of life, but a part of it.” - Haruki Murakami. Within the play Hamilton, Miranda expresses how death should inspire others to surpass their expectations and exploit one’s potential for success. A pessimistic attitude towards death can have a detrimental impact on the decisions one makes, subsequently destroying one’s destiny. In Lin Manuel Miranda’s play Hamilton, death emerges as a great motivator for individuals and the author reveals this through the characters of Hamilton, Eliza, and Burr. Death as an incentive urges Hamilton to leave an enduring legacy, allows Eliza to strengthen her independence and provides Burr with the desire to obtain the validation that eluded …show more content…
While Eliza is profoundly affected by Hamilton's demise, it ultimately urges her to develop into a self-sufficient and optimal version of herself. Lastly, Burr is motivated by his parents’ deaths to prove that he is worthy of the credibility bestowed upon him. Burr’s longing for validation and respect is a result of the absence of approval from his successful parents. When Hamilton asks Burr how he graduated college in two years, Burr states that “it was [his] parents' dying wish before they passed” (Aaron Burr, Sir). Upholding his family legacy is Burr’s motivation to succeed, defining his worth while also providing an explanation for his desire to outperform others. Burr’s fear of failing and disappointing his parents drives his success, as he is constantly striving to be exceptional. Since his parents’ final wish was for Burr to advance as an outstanding scholar, he attributes a high significance to education, prioritizing his political career. Additionally, Burr pursues new opportunities to attain the high standards left after the loss of his parents; he feels immense pressure to stand out yet is afraid to express his …show more content…
Burr is determined to make an impact, but is hesitant to rush into action as he has plenty to lose. He convinces himself that “[he is] not falling behind or running late,” as he tries to find a balance between expressing his values in order to succeed and staying quiet to protect the reputation of his parents. He struggles to determine his intended outcome, but learns to exploit the little time he has left. In all, Burr’s loss of his parents acts as motivation to sustain his family legacy and to prevail in his professional career, replacing his lack of parental validation. To conclude, embracing mortality maximizes the overall success one can attain as it provides a deeper meaning to personal endeavours. In the play Hamilton written by Lin Manuel Miranda, the characters Hamilton, Eliza, and Burr emphasize how death prompts the establishment of their legacies. Hamilton learns to overcome his strenuous past, while Eliza alters her narrative to make a difference, and finally, Burr takes action to fulfill his burning need to excel. “Death is not the opposite of life, but a part of it,” a quote by Haruki Murakami, accentuates how death is often viewed through a negative perspective, forcing the majority of people to fear the dreaded event rather than seizing the opportunity to
... to those viewing the performance. The audience must focus their attention of the happenings and the words being portrayed on stage or screen or they will easily miss the double meaning Stoppard intended in each scene of the play. The human motivation is inseparably connected with the theme of life and death that runs through the play, for it is as the two are about to die that they observe that maybe they could have made a different decision, one that would let them remain alive and free they only missed their opportunity to make that choice. Stoppard wanted his play to express more meaning and different messages to his audience but he desired for them to search the play and pay close attention to the different meanings present so they could gain the most possible from the play and those who did not understand would walk away not understanding how much they missed.
This narrative is a very brief look on the life of how Alexander Hamilton was able to shape the new country through hard work, superior intellect, and persuasion. If nothing less, Alexander Hamilton is the absolute definition of an American; he proves that hard work and dedication can make one rise to a very influential position. The ten brief chapters are chronologically ordered to give this biography a story-time feel; each chapter documents a very specific time in his life.
Lucretius and Marcus Aurelius, have both similar and different views on the role that death plays in life and philosophy. They both believe our fear is due in some part to the uncertainty that surrounds the process of death. However, both philosophers have dissimilar approaches on why we shouldn’t fear the unknown concept of death. Drawing from these reasons and explanations, they arrive at the way this fear affects our lives and what we should do to change it.
We’re all going to die right? Then why is it that we fear death so much? In William Shakespeare’s well-known tragic play, Hamlet, the reader views Hamlet’s attitude towards death evolve. Shakespeare proves that Hamlet’s attitude towards death develops throughout the play; he starts off desiring death, then is fearful of death, and finally is confident about death.
Philosophical views on death were also mentioned by Hamlet in Act 5, Scene 1, Lines 204-224 when he realizes that no matter how illustrious a man can be whilst living, like Alexander the Great or Julius Caesar, everyone looks and becomes the same once lamented. He comes to realize that ultimately everyone is as insignificant as dust, "Imperial Caesar, dead and turned to clay, might stop a whole to keep the wind away." V. i. 220-221). See the http://www.ssc.gov/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/ssc/s Hamlet insinuates that even though in life someone could have been a great ruler or conqueror, once they have fallen they could become something as negligible as dirt or clay only being able to stop the wind. Hamlet's soliloquies are brimful with brilliance and scholarly thought.
“There is in some souls a principle of absolute levity that buoys them irresistibly into the clouds. This I take to be precisely the genius of Burr.” John Adams, the former president of the United States, describes Burr’s powerful ambitions and drive for greatness perfectly with this quote. While many say that rival Alexander Hamilton is a hero, Aaron Burr actually has a solid case to be one. These past few weeks we have been exploring people who have left a legacy in history or are still going today. We looked at websites, books, and databases, and found information on different people’s legacy. I researched Aaron Burr, who fought for the underdog, was one of the first American politicians to fight for women’s rights,
“Bernard Williams is a distinguished twentieth-century english moral philosopher” (Jacobsen, p. 104). His perception of death and desire varies greatly from Lucretius who was a Roman follower of the ancient atomism and defended the views of Epicurus who like Lucretius, declared that death is a bad thing for people. On the contrary, Williams asserts that death gives meaning to life and that immorality might not be such a good thing and rather he believes that it is to be undesirable. The reasons as to why Williams thinks that a person’s death is a bad thing is due to the fact that when a person dies they are no longer able to fulfill/satisfy the desires we had when we were alive.
“Death, the end of life: the time when someone or something dies” (Merriam-Webster, 2014). The definition of death is quite simple, the end of life is inescapable. I chose to write about death and impermanence because it is something we all must inevitably face. People often deal with death in a number of different ways. Although it is something that we must eventually face, it can be hard to come to terms with because the idea can be hard to grasp. Some of us fear it, others are able to accept it, either way we all must eventually face it. In this essay I will look at two different literary works about death and impermanence and compare and contrast the different elements of the point of view, theme, setting, and symbolism. The comparison of these particular works will offer a deeper look into words written by the authors and the feelings that they experiencing at that particular time.
The broadway hit play Hamilton, written by Lin Manuel Miranda, is viewed as an educational play about Alexander Hamilton, one of the United States’ founding fathers and the first Secretary of the Treasury. The play captures the spirit of Alexander Hamilton’s ambition, eloquence, and mistakes in a revolutionary format-as revolutionary as Hamilton himself! Combining rap, musical theater, and history, Hamilton is an enthralling and entertaining play that is mostly accurate to the real Alexander Hamilton. The details of Hamilton’s life and relationships that were misrepresented in the play to achieve the theatrical flair.
In his tragedy Hamlet, William Shakespeare explores and analyzes the concept of mortality and the inevitability of death through the development of Hamlet’s understanding and ideology regarding the purpose for living. Through Hamlet’s obsessive fascination in understanding the purpose for living and whether death is the answer, Shakespeare analyzes and interprets the meaning of different elements of mortality and death: The pain death causes to others, the fading of evidence of existence through death, and the reason for living. While due to the inevitable and unsolvable mystery of the uncertainty of death, as no being will ever empirically experience death and be able to tell the tale, Shakespeare offers an answer to the reason for living through an analysis of Hamlet’s development in understanding death.
In the play “everyman” death is depicted as something that is terribly feared as no one seemed ready for it, death is perceived as something that takes one away from the pleasures of this world.
Tragic death plays a really big role in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Hamlet often considers death in many different perspectives, and definitely obsesses with the idea more so after his fathers’ death. Hamlet’s soliloquy is one of the most famous in literature, “To be or not to be, that is the question…” Hamlet’s dilemma is the pain of life that he must endure or the uncertainty of death. From the beginning of the play to the very last scene, the fascination between life and death plays a role throughout. Hamlet is troubled through the play after realizing that his uncle was the one who murdered his father and is now married to his mother. He wants to avenge Hamlet Sr. death and kill Claudius but feels that killing himself would be an easier resolution. After the death of his murdered father and appearance at his funeral, Hamlet will not leave anywhere without making the statement of his all black attire on the inside and out. The turn of events throughout the play only help the reader understand the debt of each character and their specific role to Hamlet and to the story in regards to life and death.
This philosophical study will define the good aspects of death that is revealed through the monotony of life over extended periods of time. In my view, death is a good thing because the concept of “self” presumes that I will remain unchanged if I was to live as an immortal. over time, the concept of I would become stagnant, and i would soon wish to kill myself out of boredom. Bernard Williams is an important premise for this belief, since the assumption of immortality usually rests on the assumption of maintaining the “self” over long periods of time. I do not believe that this motive is substantial in the desire to love forever, which would make death a good thing in terms
What is the purpose of life? But ultimately, what is the purpose of death? Why are we born just to die? These are two major wonders in the play "Exit the King" by Eugene Ionesco. For example, King Berenger asks the question, "Why was I born, if it wasn't forever?" This question wouldn't be of great significance if nobody possessed the desire to live forever. Our natural instinct is in the existence of life itself. It's an inborn pattern of survival. Furthermore, not only does the play "Exit the King" execute the theme of mankind wanting to be immortal, but it also shows how we need to prepare inwardly for when our time of demise draws near. My viewpoint on this play is that we tend to live our lives by putting off the fact that we will eventually die. The words of Queen Marie seem to be the motto of today's world, "Until death comes, you are still here." In other words, it's synonymous to the meaning of "live in the moment." The hard truth is that we are dying human beings. And it's our duty to accept this cruel fact. I would recommend the play "Exit the King" in view of the fact that it is an attempt to teach us by showing that we can learn how to die, instead of trying to avoid a fate that is impossible to
Hamlet is one of the most often-performed and studied plays in the English language. The story might have been merely a melodramatic play about murder and revenge, butWilliam Shakespeare imbued his drama with a sensitivity and reflectivity that still fascinates audiences four hundred years after it was first performed. Hamlet is no ordinary young man, raging at the death of his father and the hasty marriage of his mother and his uncle. Hamlet is cursed with an introspective nature; he cannot decide whether to turn his anger outward or in on himself. The audience sees a young man who would be happiest back at his university, contemplating remote philosophical matters of life and death. Instead, Hamlet is forced to engage death on a visceral level, as an unwelcome and unfathomable figure in his life. He cannot ignore thoughts of death, nor can he grieve and get on with his life, as most people do. He is a melancholy man, and he can see only darkness in his future—if, indeed, he is to have a future at all. Throughout the play, and particularly in his two most famous soliloquies, Hamlet struggles with the competing compulsions to avenge his father’s death or to embrace his own. Hamlet is a man caught in a moral dilemma, and his inability to reach a resolution condemns himself and nearly everyone close to him.