"Society is no comfort, to one not sociable."
We keep being told how exciting it is to be so connected to the rest of the world, but at the same time you and I know, don't we, that that little glowing box of the universe in our pockets isn't making us less lonely - if anything it's making things worse. This contradiction sneaks up on us and before you know it, to quote someone's podcast show notes about PTSD I just read, "your stress bucket can fill before you even realise you're running on empty." Which has now become my favourite mixed metaphor in the English language.
There are so many types of loneliness that it's difficult to know where to begin. Thankfully Shakespeare has helped us tremendously with so many of his plays, that before we work out our own problems we can start to separate out the different types.
So many of the plays deal with the loneliness of the person who rules the kingdom. It's tough at the top. Okay so I'm guessing that doesn't refer specifically to you and me, but these people are the same as us, they have the same desires and flaws, only their decisions have bigger consequences.
It's when we look at loneliness despite being connected that Shakespeare captures so beautifully that feeling of painful isolation. He examines grief, mismatched friendship, family differences and without pretending that the end result will always be rosy and cheerful, helps us navigate our way through and teaches us to cope.
Thanks to Shakespeare we can ensure that our stress bucket remains empty while our cars fill up with petrol.
Plays featured this week include Richard the Third, Hamlet, and Henry the fifth's greatest hits from Henry the fourth part one through to the play where he gets his own name in star billing.
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