Henry IV
part 1
by William Shakespeare
part 1
by William Shakespeare
How does a play about royalty, family, friendship and war fit in with the concept of original ideas? Quite nicely, actually.
A striking place this concept emerges in the play was Prince Hal's plan to get back onto good terms with his father and the rest of the citizens by acting like a ruffian only to step up at the last minute and impress the family. Faced with this situation, I can't help but wonder what gives Hal the idea to create this plan. Is it the general disapproval of society? Is it the desire to make good out of the hole he has dug himself into? This one seems rather simple to me, since I am quite confident that Hal decides to revamp his image simply because he wants to live up to the expectations his father has for him. I think that expectations are certainly a subliminal way of influencing people's thoughts but I think that there is definitely a distinction to be made between that type of thought and an original thought. It certainly isn't original if it is given to the person from someone else directly. But the King never tells Hal to follow this plan, rather his actions lead Hal to this decision.
Ideas are like a path. A path of ideas. With every judgment that is passed on us, an idea is planted. And then a snide comment is made and an idea grows from the earlier planted one. And soon, from the string of ideas created by many little comments made, a rather organic idea emerges. After all the negative comments made to Hal about his failures, he had built up the plan, piece by piece, in his mind.
A partially organic thought.
A striking place this concept emerges in the play was Prince Hal's plan to get back onto good terms with his father and the rest of the citizens by acting like a ruffian only to step up at the last minute and impress the family. Faced with this situation, I can't help but wonder what gives Hal the idea to create this plan. Is it the general disapproval of society? Is it the desire to make good out of the hole he has dug himself into? This one seems rather simple to me, since I am quite confident that Hal decides to revamp his image simply because he wants to live up to the expectations his father has for him. I think that expectations are certainly a subliminal way of influencing people's thoughts but I think that there is definitely a distinction to be made between that type of thought and an original thought. It certainly isn't original if it is given to the person from someone else directly. But the King never tells Hal to follow this plan, rather his actions lead Hal to this decision.
Ideas are like a path. A path of ideas. With every judgment that is passed on us, an idea is planted. And then a snide comment is made and an idea grows from the earlier planted one. And soon, from the string of ideas created by many little comments made, a rather organic idea emerges. After all the negative comments made to Hal about his failures, he had built up the plan, piece by piece, in his mind.
A partially organic thought.
Perhaps, with this post, you've begun re-defining "original" as something that is created or made and not just received.
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