In his discussion of the difficulties in defining manhood, Lasalle writes, “the concept of manhood is too imposing, associated with heroics and domination” (Lasalle 1). While his message of the ideal image of manhood possesses nebulous characteristics holds true, his mentioning of heroism is a bit askew. The heroic nature does not detract from, but adds to the vitality and admiration of any role.
Joseph Campbell writes how, after the stages of a heroic journey – introduction to ordinary world, call to adventure, reluctance, encouragement from the wise, passing the threshold, encounters tests and helpers, reaches the innermost cave, endures the supreme ordeal, seizes the sword, returns back, resurrects, returns with the elixer – the hero is imparted with an incredible gift. The elixer bears prescient knowledge, wisdom, certainty of purpose or “some lesson from the special world”. Campbell writes that the elixer could simply be awareness of the existence of a special world, love, treasure, or just returning with a good story to tell. But the point is the heroic journey brings back gifts -- bounties of inveterate moral goodness -- making the heroic nature of manhood is a very prosperous, admirable quality. Heroism is neither an obligatory process nor a debilitating characteristic, but its process is crucial; it is an honorable component of manhood.
No one should ever feel an obligation to dominate or feel that, as Disraeli wrote, “youth is a blunder; manhood a struggle; old age a regret”. Get out of my face Disraeli. The British statesman, Benjamin Disraeli could not possibly be more wrong in his erroneous logic.
Youth should be a miracle; manhood a journey; and old age a reflection of happiness. Additionally, we experience all of these stages – youth, old age, and manhood – not necessarily in chronological order. One could experience miracles in their old age, and reflect in their early years or in any combination of the youth, manhood, old age sequence. The sequence of youth, manhood, and old age are given more detail in Shakespeare's discussion of the stages of life, divided into seven classifications of growth --
- The Infant
- The Schoolboy
- The Lover
- The Soldier
- The Judge
- The Retired Wiseman person
- The Withered Old Person
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining Morning face, creeping like a snail
Unwilling to school. And then the lover,
Signing like a furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and beard like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the Justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part.
The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacle on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning toward childish treble,
Pipes and whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is the second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
Although this Shakespearean sonnet displays linguistic elegance and captivating phrasing, its complex message may need some deciphering. Basically, good ‘ol Shakes’ is saying that throughout our “strange eventful history” (life) we, chronologically go through seven ages of a:
The "seven ages", according to Shakespeare, however, are more than simple archetypes. They are parts in the play of life. Shakespeare felt that one must change the part they play on the world’s stage many times. To be more exact – seven times. And while each of those seven actors is unique for each person, carrying a personally unique agenda, characteristic, emotion set, and profile, each of the seven ages -- like Campbell's stages of heroism -- marks a stage in developing journey of manhood and of peoplehood.
Everyone has their own Bible for defining the stages of life -- the chronology of manhood. The psychological spin brings up Erik Erikson. About 340 years after Shakespeare’s death in 1616, the famous psychologist, Erik Erikson created the seven stages of human psychological growth. Similar to roles that we play on stage, as designated by the famous playwright, these psychological stages start off when we are born and progress through our life until death. They include:
- Trust vs. Mistrust
- Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt
- Initiative vs. Guilt
- Industry vs. Inferiority
- Identity vs. Identity Confusion
- Intimacy vs. Isolation
- Integrity vs. Despair
The item on the left is always the desired trait, whereas the item on the right is the result of not performing or “becoming” the item on the left. This weaves in nicely to Shakespeare because Erikson’s stages are a “to be or not to be” prototype. You either, for example, become industrious, or become inferior; you either become autonomous or revert to shamefulness and self-doubt.. Just as Shakespeare was no doubt alluding to the power of choosing “to be”, Erikson has a similar message over three centuries later.
So we have the three classifications of Disraeli, Campbell's steps of the heroic adventure, Shakespeare's seven actors in the stage of life, and Eriksons seven tiers of psychological growth all defining manhood. Campbell's journey of the hero definitively defines the evolution of manhood as something adventurous, heralding great treasure and challenge. The shakespearean actor blueprint of infant to withered old man signifies the constant presence of performance, acting, and transition in life. The Eriksonian 7-stage development of psychological growth or maladaptive fixation clarifies the necessity of moving forward to ensure psychological growth. Then there's was Disraeli's tripartite classification of youth, manhood, and old age.
With the exception of Campbell's procession of heroic steps and possible Erikson's procedural stages of development, all of these archetypes have the potential to be anachronistic, occur with variable duration, and lack mutually exlusivity. The anachronistic nature of the eras of life means you can experience a Judge before being a Lover or be forced to decide between Intimacy and Isolation before experiencing an Eriksonian Initiative vs. Guilt phase. Because they occur with variable durations, you could be in Youth for 50 years and Manhood for 10, or be in the Encounters tests phase for 20 years and in the Resurrection phase for 4 months, for example. Finally, they are mutually exclusive -- meaning that there is the possibility for overlap. You could be simultaneously be experiencing the Returns Back episode of the hero's journey, while also in the Schoolboy stage, or you could experience Youth simultaneously with Manhood, for example. The chronological sequence, duration and timing of occurence, and the potential for overlapping circuits depends on how focused one is on their life's trials and tests, your commitment to understanding the self and the world, the capacity for compassion, and the sincerity of purpose.
Whatever stage you are at, whether or not the stages are occurring simultaneously or out of order, ideally they should be occurring chrnologically. Frequently, if a person develops a fixation, or neglects a portion of their growth do the phases skip or get stuck on "replay" or something. But life is a process of growth and no one surges through the circuits of life in a few years -- the stages of life take lifetimes. One shouldn't look at being "stuck at one phase" as problem -- that blockage is your life work and, therefore, a barrier is an indication that you could be tremendously on your path into the journey of manhood and peoplehood.
It is important to note that generally the circuits of life -- Shakespearean, Disraeli, Erkisonian, or Campbellian -- always occur in the defined, chronology sequence. There exist fortune-telling flickers of the future phases or past relapses of previous stages, but these are often quick, subtle, dicey episodes or anachronistic jumpstarts. These blips in the processional -- normal sequential pattern -- of the life chronology ircuits could be disturbing ruptures, illuminating visions, or brilliant experiences of things to come. How the blips are interpretted and the duration of each blip depends on whether or not the person rejects or embraces the new circuit, their personality (whether are not they are suited for each experience), and their capacity to adapt with evolutionary intelligence. However, the grand consummation is understanding that eventually all phases occur simultaneously not in some chaotic quagmire but in a scintillating dance of expansive journey coupled, simultaneously, with destination. Therefore, manhood and peoplehood is a simultaneous journey and destination -- a constant process of singular episodes of travel and arrival.
Roosevelt is right on when he mentions the stalwart necessity of needing the “iron qualities that go with true manhood. We need the positive virtues of resolution, of courage, of indomitable will, of power to do without shrinking the rough work that must always be done”. The fierce tenacity of the indomitable spirit must be the indelible mark not just of man, but of any person.
Campbell, Joseph. The Hero With A Thousand Faces. New Jersey, Princeton U P, 1949.
Doherty, Thomas. Pre-Code Hollywood. New York: Columbia U P, 1999.
www.nytimes.com/books/first/d/doherty-hollywood.html.
Lasalle, Mick. Dangerous Men: Pre-Code Hollywood and the Birth of Modern Man.
New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2002.
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