My Personal Essay
Since I was about 11 months old I have been going to the Renaissance Faire. I have lived in the environment of entertainment where people play in the streets as who ever they choose. In the Renaissance time period a man name William Shakespeare wrote plays and in As You Like It, he wrote the line, “All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players.” Having been raised in an environment that basically is almost just like that phrase, I have come to acknowledge it as if it were a part of me.
At every faire that I can remember there were people playing themselves or a character of their choice, whether they were fictional or historical, an example would be Queen Elizabeth. If they worked at Faire then they had some sort of story to tell. At the current Renaissance Faire in Casa de Fruta there are many different characters ranging from puritans that scold people about being a sinner to the queen who is worshipped and respected throughout the shire. There are different classes and different characters roaming the streets telling stories to the patrons (aka: customers) who are there to enjoy the show.
When you walk up to the front gate of the faire you see people standing there, waiting to greet you, welcoming you into their shire. When you get inside, some of the actors ask, "How now?" or "How art thou this beauteous day?" or something similar. All the workers play their part in this environmental theatre making the customers experience, hopefully, something they will remember.
Because I have played Faire for so long my parents have come up with roles for us to play. A few years ago my parents became tavern owners and my sister and I were the tavern owners' daughters. We became merchant class after being in the peasant class as patrons and workers. Changing status after so many years wasn't that bad. All we really had to do was change our costume slightly. Getting new bodices and skirts for my sister and me. My dad got a new jerkin and I believe new pants as well. So it wasn't so much of our characters as much but our costumes. I never really played in the street that much, so I didn't exactly have a part to play because I didn't play with anyone. Every once in a while I would say "How now?" or "How art thou" to some customer but I didn't like talking to people who I didn't know so I kept a distance of sorts.
At the Renaissance Faire you go and you see all these people who have costumes some are actors playing the character of their choice or they are patrons who don't usually have accurate clothing but they still try to look it. Every weekend of Faire is different but the jobs you do are pretty much the same time wise. But the crowds vary everyday. Faire is an open stage everyone can play around if they want to and have as much fun possible. This is very different from someone who goes through life with a daily schedule: go to work, take a 30-minute break go back to work and come home at 6. It's the same routine every single day and It becomes really boring. Others take chances with many things and make their life something different each day, as much possible anyway. They make their life interesting and don't waste time worrying about yesterday or making sure everything is regular and perfect. Who ever the person is there is someone or something out there that makes them important to the world. Even if they just sit around and stay unnoticed, they still end up playing a role in someone's life.
"All the world is a stage and men and women play the part." This is saying that life is an open stage, much like the Renaissance Faire. You are the one who can make it fun or not and is also saying whatever life throws at you, do your best. We end up going through life and whatever is presented to us we try our best and do what we can in order to get through it.
