Humanities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Humanities - Essay Example For both of them responsibility is fidelity and commitment to the truth as it presents or reveals itself to their awareness or memory at the present moment. To be responsible to truth is to encounter it/respond to it for what it is. Hamlet first manifested it in his adamant refusal to shed the outward trappings of mourning against the protestation of his uncle king and queen mother, who wanted him to express the jubilation of their new marriage. Stubborn as he is in his fidelity and sense of responsibility towards his deceased king father, he insisted in the truth of â€Å"that within which passeth show† (Shakespeare, Act 1, Scene II). As for Phaedra, when pressed by Oeneoneas to the cause of her depression, she made a simple acknowledgement of the truth raging within her: â€Å"I feel all the furies of desire†. (Racine, Act 1 Scene III). No matter how fearsome the truth is, she shrinks not in acknowledging and recognizing its potent poison. Both of them yielded to the power of this truth but differ in the manner of their response. Hamlet refused to hide the truth; Phaedra chose to languish in secret till she could bear no more to hide the truth. To be responsible to truth is to act so that that the truth comes to light, no matter what the price. When the deceased king’s apparition revealed to Hamlet the dastardly act of murder committed by his uncle against his father and commanded him to execute vengeance, Hamlet subsequently manifested a prolonged ambivalence towards acting on the revelation. Far from fear of the challenge, Hamlet’s tarrying was rather a strong proof of his commitment and responsibility for truth. His words: â€Å"prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell,† (Shakespeare, Act III, Scene I) belied his confidence in the apparition’s revelation and could not commit himself to such unverified disclosure. He, however, was committed to ascertain the truthfulness of the apparition’s revelation,