Xanthippe In Shakespeare's 'An Excerpt From Socrates'

Xanthippe was sitting in her room, getting daintily dressed to attend a social gathering for the most prestigious families. Then all of a sudden, she heard a knock, and it appeared to be her servant with a note from someone unknown. Written on it however was an address; 1305 Shipyard Lane, and a time of 18:30. The letter also had instructions for her to do a few things upon arrival. “You are to dress as if you are going to the gathering, but to have your escort take you to this place. From there, you will find another letter at the door step, which will instruct you to walk through the home and into the back gardens, where I will await you in the stock hold.”

“At last, you have found me,” said the strange old man in a deep swift. He then began to undrape himself from his black scarfing, just to the point where his foreface was visible. “I have invited you here today to inform you of this atrocity that is happening to my friend, it would be a disservice to him if I did not inform you of what’s happening to him. I know that you have not spoken to or seen him in a while, but madam, your Socrates is about to be tried for poisoning the youth of Athens. By poison, he has developed a following where he has convinced the youth to not believe in the same Gods as the city does, and

to worship other deity’s, thus, these are the charges Meletus has brought upon him.”
“My poor Socrates, you and I both know he would never do such a thing,” said Xanthippe. “All he wanted to do, was relieve others of their stupidity and future misery. I mean, he did do so in the most annoyingness manner, by asking questions upon questions till one got stuck. And then they would realize they do not know, but I promise you his intentions were for the greater good. He meant well.”
“Ma’am, you and I both know Socrates was one of the most solid and stable of men. He wanted things to be fair, and was always in search for truth no matter where it took him. Or how many people it turned against him. Hence, he remained true to himself and to the God he does serve.”
“Indeed, he was, but that’s what made him Socrates. I know we had our differences, which eventually drawled him to leave our home but the love that I have for that man is unshakeable. After all, he is still my husband despite our temporary separation. It is only right that I go see him, it is just upsetting that I must do so under such a horrible circumstance.”
“Yes, it is very unfortunate for you to go see him under such circumstances, but before you may, I recommend you go see one of your husband’s most devout followers, Plato. He will aid in you being able to attend the trial. Enclosed in this envelope is the secret location for you to meet Plato, as well as two simple tasks you must complete before the trial in forty-eight hours. You must arrive at this location before dawn and have the tasks completed before sundown. I will know this is complete only if you are present at the trial. You cannot open this envelope in my presence, so shew, go away.”
Slowly disappearing into the darkness, Xanthippe opened the letter and saw that upon meeting Plato she must try to outwit him and upon succeeding, she must challenge him to a duel. “From this duel, you will obtain everything that you know to attend the trial.”`
She has now arrived to meet Plato. “I’ve heard great stories about you, and that you are one of my husband’s brightest pupils, said Xanthippe.”
‘Yes madam,” Plato responds. “I admire your husband for all the things he has done and everything he stands for. He always seeks the truth, no matter how many people it makes hate him. In fact, I inspire to do and be the same as him, and to carry on his legacy when he goes on. Only, because he is fairly old.”
“Wow, I am quite flattered with all the wondrous things you have to say about my love. Those same things you see in him, I do too, but not many recognize how wise he is and the amount of wisdom he possesses. It’s almost as if one must acquire some other form of knowledge to understand him. You see, we wedded mainly because our intellect complemented one another.” The two continues to engage in conversation, and Xanthippe begins to outwit Plato by the grace of her charm. This continued for another twenty minutes, then she slashes his throat; thus killing Plato. She then raided his ransack, took his journals about his learning from Socrates, as well as cloth and garments.
Before leaving from Plato’s home, Xanthippe altered her appearance. She cut off the majority of her hair (slightly above the nape of her neck). She removed her make-up, then scratched and hit herself in the face, to make a minor bruise, to roughen up her face. Lastly, she changed into Plato’s garments and skimmed through his journals and found the location details of her husband’s trial, which was to be held at Androgynous Circle.
Upon arriving at Socrates’ trial, Xanthippe (now Plato) discovered that her husband looked worse from the last time she saw him. Thinking to herself: “I caught myself walking toward Socrates to give him a hug, but then I had remember I am no longer in my feminine form and cannot do so, and then take a seat in the stand. I quickly glanced the place to see if the first fellow I met the day before was there, but it is so hard to differentiate him from the numerous others in the crowd. There was some shouting, “About time this old floozy is tried for corruption.” Then there was some other screaming excitedly, “Free Socrates, our mentor, the true knowledge seeker.”
The trial soon began. “Here ye, Here ye, we gather hither today for the case of Socrates vs. the State of Athens. Socrates is guilty of wrongdoing in that he busies himself studying things in the sky and below Earth; he makes the worse into the stronger argument and teaches the same to others, according to Meletus (Trial and Death of Socrates). He also charges the people that he teaches, this goes against everything that our great state stands for. He is teaching the young a great lie, different from what we all know and learned to be true.”
Socrates sarcastically said, “While I am accused of being guilty for telling the truth, Meletus is guilty of dealing frivosly with serious matters, of irresponsibly bringing people to courts, and of professing, to be seriously concerned with things about none of which he has ever cared (Trial and Death of Socrates).

So the real liar in the court here today is not I, but this buffoon. Now, if I corrupt the young unwillingly, the law does not require you to bring people to court for such unwilling wrongdoing, but to get hold of them privately to instruct them and extract them; for clearly if I learn better I shall cease to do what I am doing unwilling” (Trial and Death of

Socrates).
“You're such a wonderful storyteller Socrates,” said Meletus, “you're now trying to accuse me of such unjust action but you're the one who is on trial for acting so unjustly. You are however guilty of not believing in God, but believing in more than one God. And surely, that is part of a jester (Trial and Death of Socrates). I have many parents here today who will testify willingly about the horrid things you have taught the children about our God. Many of these people have also said that their children have begun to disobey them, and put your words above theirs. Always questioning what they are told and authority.”
“You people amuse me,’ chuckled Socrates. “For every parent that you brought to stand against me, I can bring one of my followers to tell you the truth of which I actually taught them. In fact, I never really taught them anything. Only to question everything of what they hear. You see true knowledge is knowing that you know nothing and coming to accept that. A majority of you look at your child as disrespecting you or behaving annoyingly, but by withholding the truth from them, you are in fact hindering their growth. Your childhood may have been filled with many lies, but you should not want the same for your children. That’s why I tell them about such a God that does exist.”
“Moreover, today I am not hear to persuade you of the charges brought against me, as many of you may have thought. But I am here to clear my name and to tell you the truth about what I do and why. Firstly, for the charge of me charging a fee to teach my followers, that is a false accusation. I am impoverished and do not have a place to call my home. I get my basic essentials from some of my kind followers. You see, I served on the city council briefly, and that had its benefits and provided a lavish lifestyle. But, the more I busied myself into the political arena, I realized how it was not for me. And to more directly help my people, I must start at the beginning of their development and teach them. Secondly, why in the heck is a trial dealing with a matter of life and death only one day, shouldn’t it be many? I suppose, that due to a lack of proof of my unwilling wrongdoing that it is so speedy. Thirdly, if I have committed such a wrong action, I should be found guilty of my wrongdoing legally, not because it goes against the morals of each of you.” Socrates continues into a lecture for a few more minutes. “Alas, I am finished, you will decide whatever you may. However, as long as I did right with my God, no matter the decision, it was planned accordingly by him.”
“All rise, those who find Socrates guilty of corrupting the youth of Athens through his teaching” people rose. “You may now take a seat,” said Meletus. “Again, all rise who believe that Socrates is innocent, and has done nothing wrong” people rose. “With a majority of the crowd, Socrates, you are found guilty of the charges brought forth. You will be sentenced to death and a ship will arrive in two days to take you to a remote territory where this will occur. Do you have any final words?”
“I do, I have one wish, can I substitute my sentencing of death to a lifetime of meals. You see, it’s been a while since I had a good one, and the least the state could do for me as a reward for my work is feed me.”
Meletus, angrily replied no. “Guards take him away, and they do as such. How dare, he try to swindle his sentencing?”
Xanthippe sits and thinks. “Gosh, these people are so naïve. If only they could understand Socrates the way I and his followers do. Do they really believe that by sentencing him to death that harmony in Athens will be restored? I think not, Athens has more internal issues to deal with than matters dealing with the life of one individual. I cannot let my love’s, reputation be tarnished by such scoundrels. His life will be lived through me, and I will record everything he has taught me and use these journals to restore his legitimacy. I his wife, will ensure that he receive the credit he deserves.” Hence, Xanthippe assumed Plato’s identity and everything that we know of Socrates is from her perspective and Plato’s journal of him.