Economic/Social transitions in literature Essay

The great conform tos represent in London and its more modern counterpart, the films, that atomic number 18 accessible to all, tie the fond issues, biases and struggles of not only the characters in the plays or the films, hardly likewise the inn of that snip. As for instance, the acquisition of wealth as a neighborly activity, which is very primitive to hu macrocosmness, as primitive as his sideline to survive, has been represent in varying degrees of need, as if so urgent. The problem arises when one realizes that the quest is not a solo act.There ar lighten some other members of the alliance one belongs to and interacts with, who seek wealth in their own ways. Since man made discoveries of and developed the tools or things he could use for purposes that serve him, value him, and en full him, man became a part of the race for the survival of the fittest. expedience is his order of the day that, by hook or crook, he has to engulf in activities that will earn for him his status, prestige, monetary rewards, properties and other masteryes or things he finds worthy of his taste.The means by which such rewards ar achieved argon sound an afterthought, and most of the time, immaterial to him. The beginning of the 16th century marked the course of study towards industrial Revolution in England and writers pass recorded in their manuscripts the free-and-easy ordeals their society faced, literally and figuratively. In Christopher Marlowes The Jew of Malta as in William Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice, it is evident that religious differences or conflicts are present and the Jews judge greatly in these conflicts. They are despised by the locals Maltese and Venetians alike.They are spat on and called by other names for the Jews are considerably identified by the red wigs they are required to wear at all times. Shakespeare echoes the thoughts and neighborly issues regarding the Jews of their time. Sentiments against the Jews are present in both plays although it still remains debatable if Marlowe or Shakespeare were anti-Semitics. The term anti-Semitism came active in 1879, but anti-Jewish agitation was already present for thousands of years. Even during the ancient romish Empire, the Jews were already discriminated upon governmentally for their religion and special forms of worship.Discrimination was also utilize as a ground against the Jews from obtaining Roman citizenship. As they were responsible for the suffering of Jesus Christ during his time, they have been considered a race with a perverting reputation. As the gospel of Christ spread from Jerusalem to surrounding pagan lands to as far as the western hemisphere and brought ab erupt the ultimate domination of Christianity, Jews had been the object of universal and systematic hatred where religion is implicated (Anti-Semitism, 2009). Equally disdainful are the Jews regard to the Christians religious hypocrisy.both plays present the utter hypocrisy of Christians who are superficially devout but are inwardly rotten as Barabbass slave, Ithamore. The materialistic friars Jacomo and Bernardine, leaders of Christianity from different orders in a certain locality, are keener at the wealth of Barabbas than of the heavenly riches they preach. Evidently, social coordinate is at play. An invisible social structure somehow manipulates important social systems that includes the manner society conducts its trade, or handles and interprets its laws, its political affairs, its cultural norms and other areas.All institutions of human affairs are considered social structures, including family, religion, law, economy and shed light on and all these are under a larger and more encompassing chunk called social system (Lopez and Scott, 2000). Marlowes portrayal of Barabbas, closely resembling the murderous Barabbas who was freed during the time of Christ, also performed a violent death spree he masterminded. There was no telling at the end, thoug h, of the motivations that pack him to such state, especially after he has regained his wealth after streaks of political deceptions.Poor men marrying wealthy women as a form of emancipation from their present state seems acceptable. In The Merchant of Venice, Bassanios urgent passion for Portia is ambiguous that he even tells Antonio to consider the arrangement an investment. In The Jew of Malta, Barabbas dislikes the Christian men courting his daughter for he does not want every of them sharing the wealth he stored up for her. Men and women are employ to cross-dressing. On the very stage where Shakespeares plays are performed, no women are allowed to take part. So men in womens roles cross-dress.Quite pertain also is the love of Antonio for Bassanio that he was willing to shed off a pound of flesh to prove his great love for his friend. The Shoemakers Holiday, Thomas Dekkers comical play, was staged around the time the fame of Shakespearean plays were a hit in London and it also echoes the theatrical role of social structure where men of height dismissnot marry women of lesser stature as the characters of Rowland Lacy and Rose Oteley depict. There was prejudice among the lower figure and crime versa but for true lovers, social classes do not matter.The working class, as in this case, the shoemakers, are at the forefront and where one of them by deception and sheer luck makes it to lead Lord Mayor Simon Eyre. match to Lopez and Scott (2000), distinctive between institutional structure and relational structure are some patterns that exist within each structure. They stated that social structure is seen as comprising those cultural or normative patterns that define the expectations of agents hold about each others behavior and that organize their enduring relations with each other (Lopez and Scott, 2000, p. 3). They contrasted it as such,social structure is seen as comprising the relationships themselves, understand as patterns of causal interconn ection and interdependence among agents and their actions, as well as the positions that they occupy (Lopez and Scott, 2000, p. 3). Both in the former merchant plays of Marlowe and Shakespeare, deception has invariably been present in the situations, whether for good intentions or to inflict harm. However, Dekkers play is more idealistic than it is a real depiction of the working class and the government of his time, for unlike Shakespeare, Dekker did not have the same privilege Shakespeare enjoyed.Meanwhile, Charles monster A Christmas Carol portrays the directly evident gap between the rich and the poor in 18th century England and the deeper problems the gap brought in with it ? leanness and social in fair(a)ice. As ogre play tackles serious issues present in society during his time that no one but Ebenezer Scrooge can greatly personify, it is unmistakable that Dickens was calling on his fellowmen to take a closer look at the plight of the others who were not as fortunate.Dick ens asks, in effect, that his fellow Englishmen understand and act on the dilemma face those displaced and eventually sent to poverty by the dark age of the Industrial Revolution (Dickens, 2003). The Scrooges utter disregard towards everything but notes makes him the monster that will invoke doom for all. If from the earlier merchant plays, egocentrism seems like the rule-of-thumb, in A Christmas Carol the call for selflessness points out that social responsibility does not end when taxes are filed.The story has be hap one of Dickens best and one of four other Christmas books he had published. In fast-paced New York, the 80s Wall Street film by Oliver Stone (1987) revolves around the ruthless corporeal character Gordon Gekko compete by Michael Douglas. This film depicts human nature back to its fullest and is personified by greed and pervert morals. The film deals with the basic craving for wealth and power, getting things done at all cost in no time. Honesty and simplicity ha ve no place if someone has to go up the ladder of success quickly be greedy.Gekkos portrayal of the Greed is good barbarism came from complaints that management owns little of its stock while it supports too m either vice presidents, an allusion to real-life speeches and comments signified by Carl Icahn, known as the shrewdest investor in the planet, regarding companies he seek to take over. Also, the defense of greed came from a paraphrased commencement address on May 18, 1986 at the UC Berkeleys School of Business Administration, delivered by Ivan Boesky, now a Wall Street incognito as he was demonstrate guilty of insider-trading.In his address he said that greed is just all right, healthy and still feels good about it. The Greed is penny-pinching line may also be adverted Adam Smith, the leading expositor of economic thought on his conclusion about human nature. Smith believed demythologised self-interest in a free-market economy leads to economic well-being. Smith wrote i n his Theory of Moral Sentiments that no matter how selfish a man may be, there is in his nature that will always interest him in the fortune of others and render their happiness necessary to him though he derives nothing from it except the pleasure of seeing it.His view on self-interest is benign and denies that self-love can be virtuous in any degree and that charity, though virtuous, cannot in any way provide the essentials of supporting by itself. Wall Street mirrors a society so high it has to time for hard work and doing work well a society that got used to getting big bucks quickly (Stone, 2003). Another New York-based film, on the job(p) Girl (Wade, 1988), directed by Mike Nichols shows how Tess McGill, a character played by Melanie Griffith, decides to climb up the ladder of success, out of the secretarial kitty she has been in for so long.Despite her resourcefulness, hard work, and degree earned from college, she stands no chance as she lacks the prestige of acquiring a degree from a prestigious school. Intelligent as she is, it is her boss who sucks out good ideas from her. A persons social position within the social power structure in a society indicates a set of peoples opinion of their own place or position in society and these are very subjective, depending on who a person talks to or who a person associates himself/herself with.Kristina Lindemann (2000) adds that education, occupation, and income are also related to the subjective social position where a persons environment provides great meet on how an individual sees himself in the context of social hierarchy in society or ones objective characteristics. Lindemann (2000) further divides these characteristics into ascribed and achieved characteristics. Ascribed characteristics are innate as age, gender and ethnicity while achieved characteristics are acquired or well-read as education, occupation or income.While studies show that acquired characteristics are applicable to how one sees hi mself positioned in the hierarchy, some theorists do not believe so (Lindermann, 2000). The environment McGill works in is too competitive where everyone keeps a open-eyed eye as to whose idea works and whose idea will moil one higher. Reaching the top then has to be done with with-it guts. Out-witting her boss in presenting what is her own original idea for the caller-out, she has to deceive their companys major client.Other moral issues may also come into play as, to be able to advance notches higher in the corporate world, one has to have to sleep with who is in charge, one has to be reminiscent of what his colleagues are up to, which may be translated to office politics. REFERENCES Anti-Semitism (2009). Retrieved noble 3, 2009 from http//encarta. msn. com/encyclopedia_761574855/Anti-Semitism. html Lopez, J. and J. Scott (2000), Social Structure, Buckingham and Philadelphia Open University Press. Murdock, G. (1949). Social Structure. New York MacMillan. Dickens, C.(2003). A Christmas Carol. g-force Rapids Saddleback. Stone, O. (Writer) (1987). Wall Street. regular army Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation Wade, K. (Writer) (1988). Working Girls. USA Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation Vitt, L. A. (2007). Class. Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology Retrieved August 3, 2009, from http//www. blackwellreference. com. libproxy. lib. unc. edu/subscriber/tocnode? id=g9781405124331_chunk_g97814051243319_ss1-49 Lindemann, K. (2007). The pretend of Objective Characteristics on Subjective Social Position. Trames, 11, 54-68.