“Time is a circus, always packing up and moving away”. – Ben Hecht.
When I was first asked which part of the history I would like to be in, I kept thinking about big things. From the Trojan War to World War Two, I never found a moment that I wanted to be a witness of. That was the moment I realized I wanted to be a part of the little things some people overlooked. Therefore, if I ever got to choose when I’d go back in time, I’d go back to the 16th century, The Golden Age of English Literature.
I want to go back to when poetry and drama were flourished. I want to be able to witness the original play of Shakespeare’s legacy. I’ve been dreaming of sitting in one of the many seats in The Globe, covered in fabric gown, watching Hamlet. Hamlet as quoted by Thompson and Taylor is considered among the most powerful and influential works of world literature, with a story capable of ‘seemingly endless retelling and adaptation by others’.So, it would be fantastic if I ever got a chance to witness it made and brought to life.
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The reason why I love literature is because it makes me feel things. I can feel a thousand emotions surging through me just by reading a book. Those feeling somehow make me feel good. That’s the part of being human anyway, to be able to feel things. Though this era was the golden age of literature, the economy wasn’t exactly at its finest. The economy was struggling. The rising population caused a huge amount of food shortage and unemployment.
I sometimes wonder what would happen if the government was influenced by literature. During that time, the government would mostly be run by philosophers and poets, they would be called the Sage. Due to that, most government systems would be based on philosophies and for a few years, it might miraculously worked.
Aristotle once stated ‚ “A great city is not to be confounded with a populous one”. The Sage might take this to an entirely new level. Every year, 16-year-olds would have to attend a Trial where they would be assessed theoretically and practically. Those who failed the Trial would then be thrown away to a deserted island where they had to thrive on their own. This method could be a solution to solve the problem of overpopulated areas in the Elizabethan Era that caused the increasing surge of poverty. This method might be found cruel to adopt in the 21st century, but considering the many works of literature and plays that depict the violence in that time, this system could be adopted.
During the Elizabethan era, the ongoing growth in population put stains on the economy, which was made worse by severe harvest failures in every decade of Elizabeth’s reign. Costs for food and clothing skyrocketed in what became known as the Great Inflation. Therefore, the alternative that has been stated above might help this issue. The intense competition that the people in the Elizabethan era were exposed to might help them to compete better in the Information Era, our present era.
I would love to witness how it could work and whether or not it would last. I’d also like to see what change this could bring to our present era. Will the people we saw on the street, begging for help have a better life? Will we – millennials – be known for more than our instant lifestyle in receiving anything we want without any effort? As Debby Boone once said, “Dreams are the seed of change. Nothing grows without a seed and nothing ever changes without a dream”.
