quote · Legacy record
Actors are so fortunate. They can choose whether they will appear in tragedy or in comedy, whether they will suffer or make merry, laugh or shed tears. But in real life it is different. Most men and women are forced to perform parts for which they have no qualifications. Our Guildensterns play Hamlet for us, and our Hamlets have to jest like Prince Hal. The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast.
Actors are so fortunate. They can choose whether they will appear in tragedy or in comedy, whether they will suffer or make merry, laugh or shed tears. But in real life it is different. Most men and women are forced to perform parts for which they have no qualifications. Our Guildensterns play Hamlet for us, and our Hamlets have to jest like Prince Hal. The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast.
Approximate author period: c. 1877 AD · industrial
Meaning not yet available
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- Author or tradition
- Oscar Wilde
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
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- Approximate author period: c. 1877 AD · industrial
author lifetime midpoint (1854–1900)
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 9216; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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