Trapped in Chains

Cast of Characters:

CHAMPION, heroine fighting against Expectation and his minor gods of burden.

CHORUS, GB 1 Students.

EXPECTATION, god of expectations and leader of minor gods.

STRICTUS, god of stress; minor god of burden.

GRAVARE, god of grief; minor god of burden.

DEPRESSARE, god of depression; minor god of burden.

 

CHAMPION: Chains, chains

I am trapped in chains

Worn down by burdens,

Reminded by the Greek tragedy Prometheus Bound: 

“Your only joys

Will be when starry night conceals the daylight,

or when the sun returns to scatter frost;

each pain in turn will wear you down with burdens” (23-26). 

 

CHORUS: Chains, chains

Hero is trapped in chains. 

First Prometheus, now Champion. 

The injustice of the gods strikes again.

 

EXPECTATION: Wrap her tighter,

Tighten your grip

O’ god of grief. 

Tighten your grip

O’ god of stress.

Tighten your grip 

O’ god of depression,

 

CHAMPION: May death come to claim my soul,

To release the grip from

The chains of the gods.

 

CHORUS: Release Champion

Break the chain

O’ god of Grief

Break the Chain

O’ god of stress

Break the chain

O’ god of depression

 

Minor gods hover around Champion, tightening the chains bound between them.

 

GRAVARE: Champion, my captive

The captive of grief.

 

STRICTUS: Champion, my captive

The captive of stress.

 

DEPRESSARE: Champion, my captive

The captive of Depression.

 

EXPECTATION: Champion, our captive

The captive of Gravare, Strictus, and Depressare

Held down by Expectation

May the chains fester and grow and

Even Hades may not offer relief. 

 

CHAMPION: I lay here in my bed

Trapped in between two worlds.

The world of binding chains 

In my head and

The world of binding chains

Within reality.

Could these worlds be related

Or am I simply daft? 

 

EXPECTATION: The world of my chains

May not be the only world you know

But the only world that matters.

 

CHAMPION: I cannot help but think

This reality of mine

Includes more than merely 

A life trapped by chains.

A freedom I cannot comprehend

Surely awaits me in another life.

 

DEPRESSARE: Weary heroine,

Give up your hope.

The hope split between realities.

 

GRAVARE: Weary heroine,

Do not cleave unto happiness.

It only leads to despair.

 

STRICTUS: Weary heroine,

Do not think for a moment that

You can run from your burdens.

They are always waiting nearby-

Always building, always growing 

Never ceasing.

 

CHORUS: Weary heroine, weary heroine

Do not give up hope.

Rise above your expectations.

Release the chains that bind you.

 

CHAMPION: I cannot release these chains.

The chains tighten and there is no escape.

Expectation rules over me.

His gods are relentless.

Bound by the goals 

I ensnared myself in.

Reminded by the Greek tragedy Bacchae:

“Life is short. If, in our little span,

we seek ambitious goals,

we’ll miss what lies to hand” (397-399).

 

CHORUS: Weary heroine, weary heroine.

Do not give up hope.

Rise above your ruler.

Rise above Expectation’s gods.

 

CHAMPION: The gods tighten their chains.

My life, my very nature-

Shackled by their expectations.

If only I could learn

To release the hold they have on me.

 

CHORUS: Weary heroine,

Look up from under your desk.

I know life is hard.

I know the gods haunt you.

You are worth more than you believe.

The chains may shackle you now,

But like a vine 

Weed in between the chains. 

Find your place

Change what needs to be changed.

Perfect your character. 

Perhaps, the chains will help you grow.

 

CHAMPION: If I change,

If I grow,

Maybe I can learn

The skills I need

To break from the chains

Which hold me down.

 

EXPECTATION: Champion, you never listen.

You never learn.

Alive for no purpose

Yet Hades does not 

Reap your tattered soul.

 

MINOR GODS (in unison): Weary heroine,

You never listen. 

You never learn.

 

DEPRESSARE: Destined to never grow.

 

GRAVARE: Destined to live for no purpose.

 

STRICTUS: May Hades reap your tattered soul.

 

CHAMPION: Voices haunt me.

There is no hope.

I never listen.

I never learn.

I am here for no purpose. 

Hades, offer me relief

From this world

Of binding chains.

 

CHORUS: Weary heroine,

You are bright and young.

Fall in love with learning.

Take advantage of opportunities.

Learn to listen.

There is a reason Hades has not yet 

Reaped your poor, tattered soul.

 

CHAMPION: I am capable of more than I imagine

I have a reason, a purpose to fulfill 

I may be failing in every class,

I may be failing in every relationship,

I may be failing in my spiritual walk,

But I can learn and grow 

From my failures.

The chains bound to me loosen;

The gods scream in pain.

 

EXPECTATION (to the gods): You fools

Do not loosen your grip.

She is not far gone yet.

Tighten your grip 

O’ gods of burden.

I do not care if you are banished

To the place I cannot name aloud.

Punish the one who fights against my control.

Make her suffer more than she ever did before.

 

CHORUS: The gods scream in pain.

Their terror grows mightier.

Expectation grows restless.

The chains snap into pieces. 

 

CHAMPION: I am free from the 

The gods that ensnared me

The binding chains in my head

Are gone

The binding chains of reality

Are gone

I am free from the expectations

Which I held over myself.