Is Life a Play?

In the famous play, “As you like it”, Shakespeare says:

“All the world's a stage,

And all the men and women merely players;

They have their exits and their entrances,

And one man in his time plays many parts…”

Was Shakespeare right? Is life really a play? If yes, why are we so stressed and unhappy? Have we misunderstood the mechanics of life? Is there something more than meets the eyes? Let’s closely examine if life, indeed, is a play.

Every play has a beginning and an end. Life too is confined between birth and death. There is a plot in every play with varying degree of twists and turns. Life is stranger than fiction. It also meanders through peaks of excitements and valleys of gloom. Sometimes a player enacts many roles in a play. In life, we are always enacting multiple roles – Parent, Spouse, Friend, Boss, Colleague, Engineer, Doctor, Accountant, Mentor, Student, and so on. Just like the actor, we also need to change our body language and modulate the pitch and tone of our voice according to situations and persons concerned. At home, we behave with spouse in one way and children in another way. At work, we cannot risk behaving with the boss in the same way as we behave with our colleagues or juniors. Then with friends, it is entirely a different ball-game. Like actors, we must rehearse our speech prior to appearing before a large gathering. Like actors, we must also dress and do make-up according to the situation and the occasion.

In play, while enacting variety of roles, the actor never forgets his real identity. He always remembers who he really is. He may have donned the most expensive clothes and crown to play a king. His body may even sway on the stage while taking a royal walk. But, he clearly knows that he has nothing to do with the character on the stage and he will be stripped of all the luxuries at the end of the play. Similarly, he may be playing a beggar evoking bouts of sympathy from spectators, but his mind remains devoid of any agony and, instead, may experience joy by watching the effect being cast on the spectators. In life too, we go from childhood to old age, experiencing many changes – by way of appearance, thoughts and beliefs. But, we never lose the “I”ness in and through all these changes (I was a child. I was a young man. Now, I am a senior citizen.) Indeed, it is with reference to this constant “I” that we are able to perceive all the changes in life. It is also abundantly clear to us that we came in this world bare-handed and would leave empty-handed. All so called possessions or sufferings would drop when the final bell rings. However, unable to remain detached with the roles being played, we experience all the ‘highs’ and ‘lows’. Our involvement in the role and inability to switch off as soon as the role of a character is completed creates all the miseries.

One form of play is the sport, which is played in the field, not on the stage. No sport or game can be played without setting certain rules. Likewise, a home; an office; a society or even a country needs a set of rules. Without rules, anarchy would prevail. Life too is governed by the laws of nature (such as “As you sow, so will you reap”), which are flawlessly enforced upon one and all. Anyone violating these laws must face consequences. Global warming is the collective consequence of individuals’ disturbing ecological balance of the nature. One may escape from human courts, but not from that of the nature. The real fun of living is in playing the game of life according to the laws of nature.

Every play has a director and a script. Coincidences or accidents, if any, are all part of the script. Every actor simply puts in his/her best performance according to the script. The director is the only one who holds the grand vision of the entire play and the best actor, indeed, is the one who can relate with the Director’s vision and surrender in his able hands. This comparison is, perhaps, the hardest bit to swallow in real life. If everything is pre-determined, why should we put in any effort? Why should we struggle so much to achieve anything? Ask an actor. He knows the play’s ending and yet he puts in so much effort in his role, because he enjoys acting. He often repeats the same role over and over again with increasing joy. Life in this respect is more interesting than the play, as the script is unknown and our individual part is revealed to us on the spot. Have we not been thrown into situations that we never imagined? Has anything happened exactly as we wished or planned? Didn’t we often experience being pushed into a certain direction despite all efforts and unwillingness? Every situation, however unpleasant, is part of a grand vision that we cannot conceive at that moment. But, looking back we understand that every bit of what happened was necessary to reach where we are today. We may either waste our energy in condemning any situation that we don’t like or play the offered part to the best of our ability, trusting in the grand vision of the unseen Director of our life’s script. Choice is entirely ours.

There is no better play than the life, if only we learn the art of viewing it objectively while various roles are being played in the spirit of a true actor.