Soliloquy

A new term for me…

I learned many new terms from the class of “Teaching the language of Drama”. Last week, Dr. Edwin introduced us the term of soliloquy. As what written in the book of “Now Read On”, a soliloquy is a very special moment in a play: the character speaks his thoughts, with no one else on stage, so the audience can see right into the heart of the character.

I was very impressed by the most famous soliloquy said by Hamlet in William Shakespeare’s play, “To be, or not to be”. Yes, this is really a big question. When Hamlet said this soliloquy, he is deciding between life and death, whether to go on living or to die.

This soliloquy reminds me on the poem of “Dover Beach” written by Matthew Arnold. Happiness is part of our life, as well as sadness, and we can’t escape from sufferings; our life will not always be calm, just like the sea. There is always something that unexpected will come to break our peaceful day, just like the nature, this thing happen out of our control. When we are enjoying our life here, there is someone at another part of the world experiences suffering, human misery never leaves us.

Everyday of our life is a struggle, for me, to live is hard, but to die is harder. If we live on, the problem might solve one day, but if we choose to die, we give up trying. Nothing will stay permanent; it is a never ending cycle. When we are up, always prepare for down; when we are down, we must believe that we will rise up again one day.

Furthermore, we must always remind ourselves that dying is not the end of the problem; we will face the judgment from God one day. In Matthew 10:28 “And do not fear those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” God is the one who is able to destroy both man’s soul and man’s body. The problem we faced today is far lighter than the judgment day. So, take courage to finish our race of life.