Blog Post #3 - Life is a Dream

Act 1

Lines 86-91

Segismund: Unhappy me!

                      Oh, miserable me! You heavens above,

                      I try to think what crime I’ve done against you

                      By being born. Although to have been born,

                      I know, is an offense, and with just cause

                      I bear the rigours of your punishment:

                      Since to be born is a man’s worst crime.

In Life is a Dream the main character Segismund is imprisoned at a young age by his father, who is the King of Poland, out of fear of a prophecy stating Segismund will ruin the kingdom if he takes the throne. In the play Basil decides to test the prophecy and see whether or not Segismund would really harm the kingdom if freed. Segismund proves the prophecy right as he throws a servant out of the palace window shortly after his release from the prison the drove him to madness.

In these lines from the opening act of the play Segismund is crying over his state of incarceration in the tower. The tower in which Segismund is held is a powerful setting in the play because of the dynamic that it holds with the characters. This dark, depressive, prison that Segismund has been held in since a kid has caused him to become slightly mad and irrational in nature.

As Segismund is released from prison to see if he will fulfill the prophecy, his madness from being imprisoned so long comes forth as he throws the servant out of the window. The setting of the prison caused Segismund to become a monster as he has been incarcerated his whole life, never seeing the outside world.