We Are Underlings - accompanying commentary

Commentary: 'We are underlings'

The quote, of course, is from Cassius of Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar', a play well known if anything for its relationships between masters and men, and for the timeless issue of social class . 'We are underlings' attempts to address some of the issues which either arise as a direct result of or derive from the human condition. Decadence, ignorance, violence, and, above all, poverty. Miranda the sweeper girl is subjected to poverty and violence as she watches the violated Helena murdered, and Cecily is perhaps subject to the worst of the conditions, decadence and ignorance.

Although the play is set in 19th century Paris, it is meant to be transcendent in its message. Some are always more privileged than others, some work while others play, some are abused, others are amused, and all choose to ignore each others' plights if they are not involved. Few, such as Andrew Reed, have attempted to transcend this inner disregard for others under the crude pretext of 'it's not my problem'. Charity in its purest form is rare, and we are lucky at Reed's to live under its legacy.

The problems, however, continue, and will never be truly solved. One can never do everything, be it read all the books in the world, save all the lives in the world or see every inch of the world, as the vastness of the earth and it's population means too much is happening at once for it all to be solved. It can merely be reduced, infinitesimally, but worth every second nonetheless.

I have deliberately contradicted stereotypes here, as the poor and uneducated speak in archaic iambic pentameter, the inner city girl is a soldier in a war zone, and the beautiful princess can no more string a sentence together than she can survive without her handmaidens. Speech should be a reflection of the person, but, like so much else, is instead hoarded and rationed by the rich and educated, for the most part at least. Is Miranda a servant girl and her father a weaver, or an aspiring student of rhetoric and her esteemed master? Is Helena a bread thief, destined to die a lowly serf, or a noble knight in the midst of war? And is Cecily a princess of a kingdom with luxuries abound, or an abused slave of decadence, who cannot express her thoughts as she would, subject to a basement by her master, ignorance.