Hair today ...

“To be or not to be”– the words are as familiar and trite as a Beatles song playing on a car commercial. But, like that song that has been relegated to the mundane world of universal approval, Hamlet’s most famous lines contain profound poetic insight.

In the interest of full discloser, Hamlet is not my favorite hero. I loathe his indecision, his lack of commitment to revenge, Ophelia, or his kingdom. Unlike the impulsive yet passionate Romeo or even the tragically jealous and paranoid Othello, Hamlet’s lack of gumption is irritating to me as a reader, and I am not sorry that he died.

Having studied the play many times throughout my academic career, I have thought of him as a subject, a hero, and oddly enough, as a man. I have discussed and researched the questions that plague the play, the ghost, incest and even the age of the Danish prince. I have come to the conclusion that Hamlet was not a teen-ager as portrayed by Ethan Hawke nor was he an adult man as Mel Gibson and Kenneth Branagh would have you believe. 

Hamlet was obviously in his mid-twenties. When else would he have been so crippled by the conflict that rages between idealism and pragmatism? When else in his life would he have possessed the self-consciousness to be aware of his actions and yet resisted the pull of fate that brought him toward murder? When else would his duties to his family and career conflict so explosively with his own desires? I’d say he is about six and 20.

I know this now that I am in my mid-twenties – something I could not have known studying the play in my senior AP class in high school or my 400 level Shakespeare class in my undergraduate studies; but, having reached the Age of Indecision myself, I am convinced of it.

I feel that I’m on the precipice of life changes: where to live, what to study, which career to pursue. My own indecision has reached the point of paralysis: I cannot even decide if I want to cut my hair or not. This may seem like a small thing, a First World problem (I do not mean to argue otherwise) and it’s ramifications are minuscule, but I cannot come to a decision. This lack of conviction has me far more concerned than I would otherwise be. While I’m deliberately choosing not to think about the other indecisions plaguing me (job, family, etc.), I’m obsessing over a few inches of hair.

In the past, I have chopped my hair on a whim and spent careless months letting hair grow into long locks. I never cared if my hair was long or short but I always had a goal, a direction and very rarely second guessed my impulses. Right now, my hair does not look good.

The power and psychology associated with hair is not new or trivial; it makes its appearance as a symbol of power in many histories and legends. In the Hebrew Bible, Delilah cuts off Samson’s hair and robs him of his God-given strength. The image of Roman Medusa with her serpent-covered head is easily recognizable, yet less remembered is that she chose to transform her hair thus following her violent rape by Poseidon. Sif, wife of Thor, was robbed of her long tresses that fell past her feet and was the color of wheat fields by trickster god Loki. To assuage the wrath of Thor, Loki brought woven threads of gold for Sif as a replacement and atonement for his misdeed.

Closer to home, Navajo tradition is to wear one’s hair long as a symbol of wisdom – since it is believed that thoughts grow with hair. The forced shearing of hair in schools across many Indian Nations had negative effects that were on par with linguistic and religious mandates.

For me, one of the most poignant literary moments is when Jo March – tomboy heroine of Little Women and idol of my childhood –  sells her hair, her one symbol of beauty and femininity, to a wig shop to help with her injured father’s recovery. It tells of sacrifice and identity, even if that identity is overwhelmed with conflict and questions.

Ultimately, what I decide to do with my hair will not have the social impact equal to the Mohawk of Miley Cyrus. It will not jeopardize my acceptance into grad school; I will continue to work, make money and to panic irrationally about the future. I will eventually cut a few inches, and they will inevitably grow back.

To cut or not to cut, that is the question…

…Now back to graduate school applications, where I will cease to compare myself with Hamlet, for I doubt it will be viewed favorably.

– Maggie Casey