When does Buffy get to finish grieving her mother's death, Angel's death, her own, Tara's - how do you process that body count emotionally without help?
I guess at some point you can't. Hence the s6 storyline. Not to keep harping on about the Hamlet book, but the more I read about their interpretation of Hamlet, the more it reminds me of s6. One of their main points is that information and action are mutually exclusive. Hamlet-as-tragic-protagonist is the exact opposite of Oedipus-as-tragic-protagonist in that Oedipus can act because he doesn't know the secret backstory, whereas Hamlet is given all information at the very start of the play and, as a result, becomes unable to act at all (until he knows that he's dying). All choices become equally impossible and he sinks into melancholy/depression. S6 begins with Willow raising Buffy because she doesn't (want to) know where she's raising her from or what the consequences might be, whereas Buffy knows exactly where she's been raised from and is left unable to do anything at all about it. Hamlet and Laertes go through the same things, lose the same people, and acknowledge how their lives mirror the other's - and end up killing each other in competition over who grieves the bestest rather than admitting their similarities; viz the entire "Dead Things" alleyway scene. Etc.
I don't always agree with the book 100%, but it's putting ideas in my head. (Though it'd be nice if they addressed Gertrude being robbed of her grieving period in the name of politics as well, as anything but a plot point to serve Hamlet with a reason to be an asshole...)
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Date: 2014-11-03 04:12 pm (UTC)I guess at some point you can't. Hence the s6 storyline. Not to keep harping on about the Hamlet book, but the more I read about their interpretation of Hamlet, the more it reminds me of s6. One of their main points is that information and action are mutually exclusive. Hamlet-as-tragic-protagonist is the exact opposite of Oedipus-as-tragic-protagonist in that Oedipus can act because he doesn't know the secret backstory, whereas Hamlet is given all information at the very start of the play and, as a result, becomes unable to act at all (until he knows that he's dying). All choices become equally impossible and he sinks into melancholy/depression. S6 begins with Willow raising Buffy because she doesn't (want to) know where she's raising her from or what the consequences might be, whereas Buffy knows exactly where she's been raised from and is left unable to do anything at all about it. Hamlet and Laertes go through the same things, lose the same people, and acknowledge how their lives mirror the other's - and end up killing each other in competition over who grieves the bestest rather than admitting their similarities; viz the entire "Dead Things" alleyway scene. Etc.
I don't always agree with the book 100%, but it's putting ideas in my head. (Though it'd be nice if they addressed Gertrude being robbed of her grieving period in the name of politics as well, as anything but a plot point to serve Hamlet with a reason to be an asshole...)