This past Monday I was sitting in my English 203 class as the rain graciously dripped down the windows. I thought about how thankful I was that the room was not its’ regular ninety degrees, and how for once my clothes were not sticking to my back. My classmates and I carefully got into our assigned groups and patiently waited for class to start. I heard Dr. Beth McCoy address the class with a cheerful “Good Morning” and prompted our first topic of discussion, “What challenges did you encounter while reading The Bacchae?”.
My group instantly bursted into conversation as remarks were made about how the character Dionysus is referred to too many names, how the vocabulary was challenging and outdated, and how we all faced the harsh realization that reading plays are a lot different than reading the usual text based novel. To this statement, Dr. Beth McCoy made the comment that it is difficult to read such a circular play like The Bacchae, when the way the text is positioned on the page is so linear.
This statement that Dr. Beth McCoy made immediately ignited a lightbulb within me. It helped me to relate my own circular American lifestyle, to the harsh linearalistic guidelines set up by society that I know have influenced me in the past. These “guidelines” are not something you can look up in a textbook or through a quick Google search on Safari; instead these guidelines are taught through American culture.
This list of characteristics introduced to us by society are norms I learned as I grew older. I remember when I was a kid I would wear my off brand sneakers from Goodwill and could not even care less about what any of my classmates thought about them. Their opinions didn’t matter because I thought they were cute and looked good on me. However, once I learned these rules set up by society, the more ingrained they became into my everyday life. My circular American lifestyle gave me the power to make my own distinct decisions and live my life the way I wanted to. I had the freedom to decide what I wanted to wear each day, but instead I always found myself focusing on what society deemed acceptable. I made the transition from wearing Goodwill sneakers, to brand named Converse. Society’s standards begin to influence the decisions I made on a day to day basis: how I looked, how I acted, and even how I thought about my future aspirations. I was more worried about fitting in than finding out who I actually wanted to be. I knew that the better I was at following these guidelines, the more I was to be associated with a higher status, and the further I distanced myself from becoming an outcast.
This was a time in my life where I put myself in a box. I compared my decisions to what society judged as either right or wrong. A lifestyle that was strictly linear, even though I had the freedoms necessary to make it circular. As you can imagine, it was very difficult. Which brings me back to Dr. Beth McCoy’s comment– that it is challenging to read The Bacchae when the text itself is linear, but the play is so circular and dynamic. I can tell you from first hand experience that it is exhausting to live a life based on a structured list of standards. So instead of following the pressures to fit in, embrace the ways in which you stand out. Live a circular lifestyle and allow yourself to wear those Goodwill sneakers over the Converse–as long as you are content with who you are, others will learn to be too.