Economic/Social transitions in literature Essay

The great plays staged in London and its more modern counterpart, the films, that atomic number 18 accessible to on the whole, depict the amicable issues, biases and struggles of not only the characters in the plays or the films, but also the monastic order of that time. As for instance, the acquisition of wealth as a social activity, which is very primitive to man, as primitive as his bay to survive, has been portrayed in varying floors of need, as if so urgent. The problem arises when star realizes that the quest is not a solo act.There ar still different members of the society 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, benefit him, and improve him, man became a part of the race for the survival of the fittest. Self-interest is his order of the day that, by hook or crook, he has to engage in activities that bequeath earn for him his status , prestige, monetary rewards, properties and other(a) successes or things he finds worthy of his taste.The means by which such rewards are achieved are just an afterthought, and most of the time, immaterial to him. The surfaceset of the 16th century marked the trend towards Industrial Revolution in England and writers have recorded in their manuscripts the daily 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 figured greatly in these conflicts. They are despised by the locals Maltese and Venetians alike.They are spat on and cry (out)ed by other names for the Jews are easily identified by the red wigs they are required to withstand at all times. Shakespeare echoes the thoughts and social issues regarding the Jews of their time. Senti custodyts against the Jews are present in both plays although it st ill remains debatable if Marlowe or Shakespeare were anti-Semitics. The term anti-Semitism came about in 1879, but anti-Jewish agitation was already present for thousands of years. Even during the ancient Roman Empire, the Jews were already discriminated upon politically for their religion and special forms of worship.Discrimination was also used as a ground against the Jews from obtaining Roman citizenship. As they were responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ during his time, they have been considered a race with a bad reputation. As the creed of Christ spread from Jerusalem to surrounding Gentile lands to as far as the western hemisphere and brought about the as yettual domination of Christianity, Jews had been the object of world-wide and systematic hatred where religion is concerned (Anti-Semitism, 2009). Equally disdainful are the Jews regard to the Christians religious hypocrisy.Both plays present the say 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 structure 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 class 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 killing spree he masterminded. There was no telling at the end, though, of the motivations that drove him to such state, especially af ter 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 love 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 any of them sharing the wealth he stored up for her. Men and women are used 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 intriguing 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 fictional character of social structure where men of stat ure cannot marry women of lesser stature as the characters of Rowland Lacy and Rose Oteley depict. There was prejudice among the lower class and unrighteousness 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 unmingled luck makes it to be advance Lord Mayor Simon Eyre. According to Lopez and Scott (2000), distinctive between institutional structure and relational structure are some patterns that exist at heart 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 way 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, understood as patterns of causal interconnection and interdependence among agents and their action s, 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 always 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 fiend A Christmas Carol portrays the now evident gap between the rich and the poor in 18th century England and the deeper problems the gap brought in with it ? poverty and social injustice. As Dickens play tackles serious issues present in society during his time that no one but Ebenezer Scrooge can greatly personify, it is translucent that Dickens was calling on his fellowmen to take a closer look at the plight of the others who were not as fortunate.Dickens asks, in effect, that his fellow Englishmen extrapolate and act on the dilemma facing those displaced and eventually sent to poverty by the dark age of the Industrial Revolution (Dickens, 2003). The Scrooges utter disregard towards everything but money makes him the monster that will invoke doom for all. If from the earlier merchant plays, self-interest 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 become one of Dickens best and one of four other Christmas books he had published. In fast-paced New York, the 80s Wall path film by Oliver Stone (1987) revolves around the ruthless corporate character Gordon Gekko played by Michael Douglas. This film depicts human nature back to its fullest and is personified by greed and corrupt morals. The film deals with the basic craving for wealth and power, getting things make at all cost in no time. Honesty and simplicity have no place if someone has to go up the ladder of success right away be greedy.Gekkos portrayal of the Greed is good speech came from complaints that management owns little of its stock while it supports too many vice presidents, an allusion to real-life speeches and comments signified by Carl Icahn, know as the shrewdest investor in the planet, regarding companies he tried to take over. Also, the defense of greed came from a paraphrased commencement address on May 18, 1986 at the UC Berkeleys rail of Business Administration, delivered by Ivan Boesky, now a Wall Street incognito as he was found guilty of insider-trading.In his address he tell that greed is just all right, healthy and still feels good about it. The Greed is Good line may also be adverted Adam Smith, the track expositor of economic thought on his conclusion about human nature. Smith believed rational self-interest in a free-market economy leads to economic well-being. Smith wrote in his Theory of Moral Sentiments that no matter how selfish a man may be, there is in his nature that wil l 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 emptiness can be virtuous in any degree and that charity, though virtuous, cannot in any way provide the essentials of living by itself. Wall Street mirrors a society so laid-back 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, Working 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 pool 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 per sons social position within the social pecking order 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 impact 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 learned as education, occupation or income. enchantment studies show that acquired characteristics are relevant to how one sees himself positioned in the hierarchy, some theorists do not believe so (Lindermann, 2000). The environment McGill w orks in is too hawkish where everyone keeps a watchful eye as to whose idea works and whose idea will push one higher. Reaching the top then has to be done with cutting-edge guts. Out-witting her boss in presenting what is her own original idea for the company, 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 mindful of what his colleagues are up to, which may be translated to office politics. REFERENCES Anti-Semitism (2009). Retrieved August 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. Grand 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 Impact of Objective Characteristics on innate Social Position. Trames, 11, 54-68.