Regarding misinterpretations of Shakespeare, I came across an interesting one the other day. When Juliet cries, "O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?", she is not asking Romeo to reveal his location. It is far more profound than that. "Wherefore" means "why": Juliet was asking why the fates had made Romeo part of the Montague family, with which her Capulets were locked in a feud. Here, and in the following dialogue, Shakespeare—through the voice of the character he has created—asks us some searching questions about the nature of "identity". Do we equate ourselves with our name?
JULIETThe question of identity is especially relevant to our world. Our name tags float above our heads and we cannot hide them. Do we sometimes wish we could change our name to satisfy a loved one? Or, let's say you have fallen out with one of your friends. Can your alts be friends with each other?
'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.
http://www.online-literature.com/shakespeare/romeo_and_juliet/10/
4 comments:
I created an alt for the purpose of having an in-game character that isn't identified with me. The alt is still open about my gender and age in RL, but not the identity.
Since Prospero Frobozz really is the SL projection of Rob Knop, I wanted to have another name where I could go about incognito.
I've heard some tell horror stories about alts meeting the same people and other getting mad about it. For that reason, I'm trying to keep the social groups of my main and my alt separate, so that hopefully no collisions and conflicts will occur.
-Rob (aka Prospero Frobozz)
(P.S.: In case this name at gmail.com doesn't get e-mail, check out: http://scienceblogs.com/interactions/2007/07/catherine_moody_second_life_pi.php )
Very interesting. I have chosen my own name after a goddess whose virtues I wish to emulate, just as my sister had chosen her name for the same reason. A friend of mine is herself friendly with a young avatar with the first name of Poopmaster. An extremely nice avatar, and presumably a nice woman in real life. Why that name? The name Poopmaster does not strike one as someone that one would want to get close too. I'm not sure that "Poopmaster" smells quite as sweet as her personality is in truth--a name certainly makes a difference.
I have an alt who I created to test things and who is not online much, but what I have discovered is the she is a different person than I. She looks different, dresses different, and even talks differently. Though the name does not seem to mean much, it does differentiate between us. Even though I am the same prson inside, you would certainly find a lot of differences between us - but these differences are not brought about by the name, they arise from different expressions of perspective between us.
At the same time though, I notice differences in my own behaviour and thoughts depending on the title I wear, especially the newest one. I think that the title (as a name) does have some ability to direct our thoughts - but probably only because we let them.
Hi Catherine, my first visit to your Blog.
The name
the shape of the avatar
the tag you wear,
each is an expression of who you are,
a reflection of the inner you,
and in reflecting presents a mirror to yourself to transform you
(Which is partly why it takes me months to change a hairstyle in SL :)
I believe SL me is a part of the real me,
And as a part given special attention,
may grow and develop a part not explored in RL.
I have an Alt,
created strictly as a guest for use by multiple RL painters.
My art business is virtually non- existent,
yet she survives as an alt,
has establishes herself as female (Artist Coco chose the hair, shape, and style in clothing)
and I bring her online about once a month to play avatar chess.
Ah but the tricky games that occur,
I happened to have her on once at a concert to give away a Simone gown, and an art buyer started asking about her art (which I knew the answer about from RL), An art discussion evolved, friendship offers were made and dancing proposed, and I explained (again) that I was a conglomerate alt, not likely to be the same person twice, rejecting the offers of friendship. There was a real temptation to play out a charade with a romantic guy who treated my alt so graciously. It would be like being a voyeur on the life of an avatar that is not real -- but of course somewhere it would be the real me, reflecting back on myself.
So what is in a name,
a shape,
an anonymous avatar,
IMO eventually it is yourself.
For me the expressing part of my personality quirks as an alt is tempting, but to express them as Secundo is even more fascinating, because then I and others come face to face with parts of me usually not shown in RL, and some parts that would never have been uncovered in RL.
And some parts of me that disappoint my SL friend's.
(I can't imagine interviewing an author of Bondage/ Submission erotica in RL - Can you, Catherine?)
- Secundo Dharma
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