The Great Acting Blog: “The Purpose Of Struggle”
Oedipus spends his whole time in Sophocles’ play trying to figure out what caused the plague on Thebes. Eventually of course, he discovers that he himself is the cause of the plague. The purpose of struggle, is to the reveal the truth. This is true in the drama, it’s also true in life.
Actors are naturally drawn to situations where the odds are stacked against them, that’s one of the reasons they become actors in the first place – to chase an absurdly difficult goal in order to see how they respond, to back themselves into corners in order to see how they fight their way out.
If you’re going after something which is more difficult to accomplish than anything you’ve done before, then you’re going to have to reach outside of your comfort zone for it. The skill set which helped you to conquer your last goal may not be enough this time. The same might be true of how you set yourself up as a person. The point is however, we have to find out.
The new thing may be something demanding, something which we don’t know if we’ll succeed at, something we may well regularly fail at and have to come back and try again tomorrow – we don’t know what will happen. The solution is hidden from us, just like it was for Oedipus. But this continual struggle, this conflict, this facing down of the resistance to our efforts day after day, gradually banishes the lies which grow up around us during more comfortable times.
Fighting out way out of difficult situations reveals our weaknesses, our limitations and our self-delusions. To avoid conflict and struggle and uncertainty though, is to remain ensconced in a cosy prison of falsity.
The purpose of struggle is to reveal new truths, which in turn liberate us and enable us to progress.
Subscribe to The Great Acting Blog
