No business but pleasure
All these people here are so strange, so unlike the good people I've known. They seem to think of nothing but enjoyment or of wasting their time in profitless occupations. ... And forever they are telling stories and laughing and singing and drinking and dancing.
The whole scene that takes place on the Elysian Fields really drew me into the play, particularly because there is a lot of DnD lore surrounding the place.
I found this quote interesting because the description of this Heaven-like place elicits a picture of a true paradise, yet Shrdlu seems unsatisfied with what he finds there -- perhaps because there is no purpose to existence on that plane other than enjoyment -- but isn't pleasure a form of profit? It sounds like he's upset by the fact that there is no competition.
Comments
Great point, Megan. I made a similar one elsewhere, but to summarize:
It seems to me that Shrdlu is upset because he fears that if there is no "divine justice," there is no divine being, either.
Posted by: ChrisU | February 8, 2006 5:26 PM
I think Shrdlu is upset because he feels like he should suffer some sort of hellfire and damnation as penance for killing his mother. After all, he's a religious fanatic, so he believed that "bad" people would pay the price for it after death. Now he's committed a horrible sin and he's dead and he gets to hang out in the Elysian Fields having a grand old time. It's as though everything he's ever believed in - the whole concept of Hell is REALLY IMPORTANT to Evangelical Christians - has been wrong.
Posted by: Megan Ritter | February 8, 2006 5:09 PM
I made a comment on a peer's blog that describes my feelings about the ending of the play in depth, which might be a useful addition to my ideas here.
(The comment hasn't gone through the verification process yet, so it might not be up for the first few hours after this comment is posted.)
Posted by: ChrisU | February 8, 2006 4:44 PM
Shrdlu sees a difference between pleasure/enjoyment and happiness. More precisely, Shrdlu is unsettled bacause he doesn't find punishment waiting for him in the afterlife, so he has to live eternally knowing that the murder of his mother has not been addressed by the cosmic justice he feels he has offended.
And Jennifer, while we are meant to be upset by Shrdlu's murder of his mother (the love of a mother being a key emotional register one often finds in melodrama), from what we learn, Shrdlu's mother wasn't the best mother.
In a way, Shrdlu has played out in the domestic sphere the same crime, for the same movites, as Zero has played out in the business world. Rice seems to want to emphasize the idea that the problem isn't big business, but rather it's humanity in general.
(Chris, we just read "The Machine Stops" in EL150, and I'm sure you'll be able to point out some similarities, if you like.)
Posted by: Dennis G. Jerz | February 8, 2006 2:09 PM
Well, the man did kill his loving mother, so I'm not sure he's the best decision maker. I'd love to learn more about him.
Posted by: Jennifer DiFulvio | February 8, 2006 12:58 PM