Today's Way of Mourning

Going into the play I wondered what Professor Burton meant when he said that we will be surprised and should brace ourselves.  From the moment that Polydorous gave his opening speech on the props I knew that he was referring to the emotions and the mimesis that the actors portrayed.  Sometimes in the play I felt like Hecuba was a little over the top and exaggerating, partially because I couldn't fully relate to her.  It was hard for me to watch such powerful emotions on the stage, but as I would take my attention off of her and onto the five other woman on the stage, I noticed that they too portrayed emotions of grief and pain, but through their more subtle gestures than through the waiting and grand movements that Hecuba often did.  

This really helped me become more persuaded through the emotional appeal of the play because when I looked at the others on the stage, they were portraying the same emotions, but on a smaller scale.  I think I related more to them because in today's culture and society when one is in mourning we do not often make a huge scene in the middle of our town and let everyone know what is wrong, but we often quietly mourn and confide in our closer social circle, and generally within our homes where not everyone can see.  That is why in my opinion, the five woman on the stage were able to relate to the audience simply because of today's culture.