What do the friar, Mercutio, and Kreacher all have in common?

This is my paper that I wrote for my honors class. We basically had free reign to write about what we wanted as long as it tied into the class.

Let me know what you like/dislike? Thanks :)

"These," he said gravely, "are unpleasant facts; I know it. But then most historical facts are unpleasant."
- Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, Ch. 2

Historical Escapism and The Search for Equilibrium

            The very etymology of the word “utopia” is equivocal. Originating in 1516 by Sir Thomas More, “utopia” is little more than an educated play on words. Stemming from the Geek, it is as similar to the word ou-topos as it is to eu-topos. The former signifies “no such place” while the latter means “a good place.”  Taken at face value, with a little humor, this word of More’s creation essentially refers to a perfect world that does not exist. Therefore, the answer to the question “Is it possible to reach a state of utopia?” by the simple breakdown of the word itself, is no. A place cannot be both good and non-existent. However, humankind strives/longs/hopefully imagines a world of perfection and harmony. This is seen in countless novels, films, television shows, and even articles in newspapers and magazines. The human race believes, or rather wants to believe, in a better existence, the question is: What is it that we are really longing for?

            Escapism is a large part of modern day culture, though this is by no means unique to the present. This has been the case since literature first came to be, and later displayed in other media forms from movies to video games as time progressed. The longer humanity thrives, the more it feels a need to be entertained. Because of the seemingly ever growing amount of injustice, economic turmoil, etc. in this world, people feel the need to escape to other times and places and live life voyeuristically.

But, those with minds bent on saying something are crafty, and have a way of making their voices heard.  It is in the most fantastic circumstances that artists and visionaries lay out their most primal and base insinuations. In order to fully appreciate what is being striven for by society as a whole in reality, it is pertinent to journey through fantasy worlds as well as examine the individual.

            One of the earliest accounts of escapist story telling with a hidden message dates back to the 14^th when Geoffrey Chaucer wrote and recited what was intended to be his magnum opus “The Canterbury Tales.” In Chaucer’s day, the amount of people who could read and write was much lower than it is today. Because of this,  many story tellers would recite their tales to throngs of people, gathered after a long day’s work to be entertained and lose themselves for a while.
            In “The Canterbury Tales”, a large group of pilgrims are all on a journey to worship at the same spot. The characters include a knight, a prioress, a parson, a man of law, and many other characters, many of which would never travel for days with such a pell mell group.   

 However, in the fantastical mind of Chaucer, and of those he entertained, this group embarked on a journey, regardless of status or wealth, as equals and each character took his/her turn at telling a tale. At the end the best tale was to be awarded a free night’s room and board at the inn of the innkeeper and judge of the tales. Many of these stories included lies, deceit, immorality, and even death. They also included tales of valor, success, monetary gain, and eternal youth. The people loved Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” because they never knew what to expect, except that there would be a fair mix of debauchery, skullduggery, laughter, and a bit of the fantastic.  It was precisely this mix-it-up manner that kept people coming back day after day to hear the next tale. 

            A few centuries later, William Shakespeare would find William Shakespeare fast at working creating an escapist entertainment of his own sort. The aristocracy, the royals, and all who could afford to be tired of their own lives were. Shakespeare was another brilliant mind, and like Chaucer, he used characters his audience could relate to and set their problems on stage to be played out. In this way, the aristocrats, the royals, etc. could put their own worries aside for a few hours at a time and focus on the drama of the fictional lives in front of them.
            A prime example of Shakespearian escapism is found in The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. In the story there are two families, the Montagues and the Capulets, pitted against one another for little more reason than that have always been at war with one another, and have no intention of ceasing. As fate would have it a young Montague and Capulet fall in love and must somehow overcome the bitter feud between their families. In the end they are unable to do so and both meet their deaths. Though, through their deaths, the two families realize the futility of their fighting. They realize that this endless war is not worth the lives of their children and call the whole thing off, with little to no question.
            The people watching this of course would be moved and pleased with the families’ decision to put the past behind them in light of what had happened. However, they would fail to see, just as many of the people Chaucer entertained failed to see, that those in the story were reflections of themselves. The play write and the story teller had loftier goals than to entertain. Though they knew that entertainment was all they may achieve, the grander idea was still there for those hungry for meaning. For those who were willing to look past the façade of fiction and take the art for more than mere fluff, for more than a way to get away from one’s own problems, and for those few that knew there was something to be taken from these works than “someone else’s story”, was the bit of truth that answered their question. The question that not everyone vocalizes or even realize they want the answer to, but on some level do. What are we really longing for?
            One more jump of several centuries places one firmly in the present, and one of the greatest examples of escapist literature with substance of these times is the Harry Potter series. The fictional, fantastic world of Harry Potter has so enthralled popular culture that from the seven books have stemmed: movies, video games, hundreds of websites, and even bands dedicated to playing music regarding the events in the series. Once again, the tales in this story are set in a world parallel to our own, and many of the problems by its characters are problems many readers would experience in their own lives (albeit with less magical interference).
            The boy wizard and title character, Harry Potter,  is reminiscent of Oliver Twist or Jane Eyre, if they had stumbled upon the land of Oz, and in reference to all of these tales there is an element of our world, but somehow BETTER, because fictionalized. Harry is an orphan and must deal with family he would rather be rid of. He goes is introduced to a world and a school that he thinks is going to cure all of his troubles, but finds merely that wherever you go new troubles arise. The battle lines are drawn and there is a clear distinction between good and evil, dark and light. Yet, as it reflects real life, the lines are sometimes blurred and distinctions become fuzzy. It is in the fifth novel/film in the series that Harry learns a pertinent piece of information. It is when his is questioning himself and wondering if he himself might be evil. His god father takes him aside and tells him “The world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters. We have all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the power we choose to act on. That's who we really are.”
            This statement is essential to the entirety of the series, and it also pin points the main message of what it is to be human. We are not good or bad. We simply are. Humankind can have illusions of eradicating evil and live in a perfect world all it wants. However, the feasibility of this is extremely low and in reality is not even we are seeking. One cannot defeat something that is not the enemy and claim success any more than one can climb a homemade mountain and claim any sort of victory. In the end, it is not perfection or this fictional pun of an idea “utopia” that is being sought after. Nor is escapism as pure and simple as merely needing to escape. The hidden message is washing over everyone who experiences these works, regardless of if this is realized. It’s a certain balance that isn’t seen in our very unbalanced and oft dark reality.
            Though it seems counter-intuitive, to achieve the perfect possible society, there needs to be fear. There needs to be crime, punishment, hunger, and death. There must be these, counter balanced by an equal amount of hope. An equal amount of good deeds, rewards, philanthropy, and a will for life. What Einstein said of the nature of the universe need be true of human existence in order to achieve maximum comfort, as well as maximum function. “For every action there is an equal and opposite re-action.” This can be summed up in one word equilibrium. Defined as a state of rest or balance due to the equal action of opposing forces (dictionary.com), equilibrium is the end result of humanity working towards balance; it is the epitome of balance and is the closest thing to what has come to be called utopia that human kind can possibly achieve.