Metamorphosis

Harrison Hodister

The experience of metamorphosis in teenagers, aka, puberty

Metamorphosis in teenagers and the similarities it has to butterflies:

Throughout the life of a human being, they will experience and go through, the process of something called puberty. As defined by the dictionary, puberty is, “the period during which adolescents reach sexual maturity and become capable of reproduction.” This is ‘metamorphosis’ aka the process of transformation from an immature form to an adult form.

In humans, puberty or adolescence, is a period of transformation, not unlike a chrysalis changing into a butterfly. For a teenager, it is when the brain and body transform into adulthood. The brain transformers through a process known as adolescence, in which sex hormones take over via estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. These sex hormones augment myelinogenesis and the development of the neurocircuitry involved in efficient neurocybernetics. For the butterfly, the process takes about 7-10 days and can be painstaking as the butterfly struggles to break free of its cocoon. But it is the strength the butterfly gains through going through a metamorphosis, that gives it its power to be able to spread its wings and fly into adulthood.

It is a similar struggle an adolescent goes through to transform into adulthood. Though, in humans, this transformation takes longer than 7-10 days and is moreover a period of 10-15 years, minus the painful process of escaping the confinements of a cocoon. As butterflies leave their cocoons beautiful in form, we humans leave puberty beautiful in the mind. A butterfly isn’t as intelligent as a human being and thus we admire its looks rather than brains. For humans, it’s a tiny bit more complicated. We will always see someone for their looks, that’s how eyes work. But if we wish to demonstrate our intelligence and maturity then we must look at them for their brains. If your friend made a dumb decision and it comes back to bite them in the butt then you can judge them for it accordingly. If they say something out of line you have every right to correct them about it. You should never just take someone for their looks, it says more about you than it does the other person by doing so. As Edwin Rolfe put it in her 1944 edition of the African journal American Speech: “You can't judge a book by its binding.” Puberty allows us to mature into adulthood and lets us think more critically and think more wisely about our words and actions. Puberty is what gives us our wings to fly into the open world and take our knowledge and advice our parents gave us, and use it to the best of our ability.

Puberty can differ depending on who’s experiencing it. For males, it can be simplified down to sweating more, growth in the private areas, body odor becoming more prominent, and hairs growing more in certain areas. For females, the process is a vastly different experience but can be similar in certain areas. Females will also have growth in their private areas, mostly in the chest region. From a young age, girls will begin to grow hair on their eyebrows, legs, arms, and other regions of the body. They will also begin the process of having periods.

But one thing all teenagers of both sexes can relate to is acne. This annoying thing starts to spread on your face and sometimes other areas of your body and can ruin your looks. Undoubtedly, anyone who has to experience this will be glad when they finally stop growing and end their puberty stage of life to finally be rid of this accursed thing.

How does this connect to metamorphosis? Well metamorphosis, as defined by the dictionary, is “A marked and more or less abrupt developmental change in the form or structure of an animal (as a butterfly or a frog) occurring subsequent to birth or hatching.” Adolescence can be painful for humans – our brain development can be affected by the way we live, and if that is a negative influence on us, we can be like the underdeveloped butterfly, unprepared to fly on our own. As brain science, author, Donna Volpitta, Ed.D says about the modern world teens are growing up in, “We are experiencing a mental health crisis in teens and young adults unlike one we have seen before. Anxiety, depression, and suicide among teens have jumped significantly. She goes on to observe that this robs adolescents of this struggle involved with the metamorphosis, and leaves them, “like the underdeveloped butterfly, unprepared to fly on their own.”

In Shakespeare’s, As You Like It, the audience is given lots of symbolism to consider. One big player is the symbolism of change aka metamorphosis. In Act II, scene vii, Jaques philosophizes on the stages of human life: man passes from infancy into boyhood; becomes a lover, a soldier, and a wise civic leader. His speech is a commentary on how humans can and do change in AYLI, especially those who enter the Forest of Ardenne and ore often very different when they come out. It is like the Forest of Ardenne represents a butterfly’s cocoon. With the goddess named Hymen (Hymen is the God of marriage), we see the transformation of a character that plays a big part in the Forest of Arden scenes. With Hymen’s entrance and the transformation of our main protagonists into their true selves, we get to see a form of metamorphosis take place before our very eyes.

There are other examples of change/metamorphosis in AYLI. Jaques’s big speech is a persuasive commentary on how quickly and thoroughly human beings can change, and, indeed, do change. Whether physically, emotionally, or spiritually, those who enter the Forest of Ardenne are often remarkably different when they leave. The most dramatic and unmistakable change, of course, occurs when Rosalind assumes the disguise of Ganymede. As a young man, Rosalind demonstrates how vulnerable to change men and women truly are. This is because throughout the show we are introduced to each character in a vulnerable state. Orlando is shown to be peer pressured by his older brother, Oliver, into being the submissive child of the household. Even when Orlando cries out that he is more of a representation of their father than Oliver ever will be. Rosalind is introduced by being shown as a fiery girl with her cousin but as soon as they enter the ring for the wrestling she turns into a submissive lady, as do all the other ladies present. Society at the time peer pressured the ladies into being housewives and being the weaker sex. This contrasts with today’s society where women are and get equal opportunities as men. This shows maturity and how impactful change can be to a man or woman. Rosalnd perfectly embodies this and shows the audience what growth really is.

But, in AYLI, Shakespeare also dispenses with the one process involved in human puberty and a butterfly’s metamorphosis - time. Some characters do not struggle to become more compliant and adaptable over time, like a teenager or butterfly’s struggling transformation; their changes are instantaneous. Oliver, for instance, learns to love both his brother Orlando and a disguised Celia within moments of setting foot in the forest. And Duke Frederick abandons his thoughts of fratricide after only one conversation with a religious old man. AYLI not only shows people can and do change – metamorphically but also celebrates their ability to change for the better. Like a butterfly and an adolescent, this metamorphosis gives these characters their strength to move on.