Are You a Don Quixote or a Hamlet?
On my Russian Literature final there was a prompt that really made me think. And don't worry, our essay questions were out in the open for all to see before the final and we were allowed to think about them prior to the final, so I'm not breaking any Honor Code restrictions by sharing this.
It started with a quote from the Russian writer, Ivan Turgenev (whom I've learned to love a lot this semester) from his essay "Hamlet and Don Quixote." I would love to share the exact wording with you, but it seems that I can't find my copy of the questions, and the text is not copyrighted, but the translation is. The basic idea is that Don Quixote is faith. He is faith in himself, in humanity, in life, in others, in something higher. Hamlet, on the other hand, is so analytical that he doubts everyone and everything. He is an egoist, but his doubt goes so far that the natural consequence of his doubt is that he does not even believe in himself. Not even his egoism can save him from that. Turgenev argues that you can analyze all people and all characters in this light--not necessarily that all fall into one camp completely, but that those are extremes with which you can analyze.
Then we had to go and analyze to Russian lit characters in this context (Levin from Anna Karenina and Bazarov from Fathers and Children). But, the part that really struck me is the idea of it. Looking at the two options explained, I think I know which I would want to be. And then having read both Don Quixote and Hamlet, I know which end I'd like to have. But which am I? You probably guessed right, I'd want to be a Don Quixote. So, I don't want to go insane and fight windmills, but that's not the point. The point is, I want to believe that everyone and everything is inherently good. I want to have faith. But I'm a very analytical person. And I've discussed this before, being analytical isn't particularly a bad thing. In fact, that's why I chose the career path I have. But it needs a limit. I have to be careful to not become so analytical that I'm a Hamlet. I need to have some faith in others, in myself and in the possibilities. And I don't all the time.
So, that was just a thought that came to me. If you're not analytical to some extent, you're going to be in trouble. And we need people who are more analytical and people who are less analytical. That's how the world has been running for thousands of years. But be careful to not let that analysis consume you, your personality or your way of looking at life. Ask yourself, are you a Hamlet or are you a Don Quixote?
It started with a quote from the Russian writer, Ivan Turgenev (whom I've learned to love a lot this semester) from his essay "Hamlet and Don Quixote." I would love to share the exact wording with you, but it seems that I can't find my copy of the questions, and the text is not copyrighted, but the translation is. The basic idea is that Don Quixote is faith. He is faith in himself, in humanity, in life, in others, in something higher. Hamlet, on the other hand, is so analytical that he doubts everyone and everything. He is an egoist, but his doubt goes so far that the natural consequence of his doubt is that he does not even believe in himself. Not even his egoism can save him from that. Turgenev argues that you can analyze all people and all characters in this light--not necessarily that all fall into one camp completely, but that those are extremes with which you can analyze.
Then we had to go and analyze to Russian lit characters in this context (Levin from Anna Karenina and Bazarov from Fathers and Children). But, the part that really struck me is the idea of it. Looking at the two options explained, I think I know which I would want to be. And then having read both Don Quixote and Hamlet, I know which end I'd like to have. But which am I? You probably guessed right, I'd want to be a Don Quixote. So, I don't want to go insane and fight windmills, but that's not the point. The point is, I want to believe that everyone and everything is inherently good. I want to have faith. But I'm a very analytical person. And I've discussed this before, being analytical isn't particularly a bad thing. In fact, that's why I chose the career path I have. But it needs a limit. I have to be careful to not become so analytical that I'm a Hamlet. I need to have some faith in others, in myself and in the possibilities. And I don't all the time.
So, that was just a thought that came to me. If you're not analytical to some extent, you're going to be in trouble. And we need people who are more analytical and people who are less analytical. That's how the world has been running for thousands of years. But be careful to not let that analysis consume you, your personality or your way of looking at life. Ask yourself, are you a Hamlet or are you a Don Quixote?
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