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ACT 1, SCENE 1
Conversation between Thomas More and Richard Rich.
RICH: Well there! 'A friend of Sir Thomas and still no office? There must be something wrong with him.'
MORE: I thought we said friendship...The Dean of St Paul's offers you a post; with a house, a servant and fifty pounds a year.
......................
RICH: It's hard.
MORE (grimly): Be a teacher.
This conversation, as well as the previous one, sets up the contrast between Sir Thomas More and Richard Rich which is prevalent throughout the entire play.
In this opening scene, Rich and More argue over whether or not anyone can be bought. While Rich believes "every man has his price", More refuses to agree
with the notion that everybody could succumb to the temptations of status, power, wealth and women, or the notion of suffering. Rich means to say that men
want to avoid suffering and are therefore attracted to the possibility of escape, and More instantly recognises this idea as one of Machaevelli's. As Machaevelli
is historically understood to have written on the government, and how putting political appropriateness above ethical issues and morality was the sensible
approach to be taken in aquiring status, Rich's corruptibility and the suppression of his conscience is foreshadowed in that Machaevelli's theories both interest
and attract him. More warns Rich of the temptation involved in aquiring a high-ranking job, and offers him an Italian silver cup. The silver cup symbolises More's
attempt to test and teach Rich, and is significant throughout the play as it represents the commencement of Rich's corruptibilty, which eventually escalates into
much more evil and immoral actions later on. The cup also represents the differences in principles and morailty between More and Rich. While More's principles
don't allow him to keep such a "contaminated" object, Rich jumps at the chance of receiving something so valuable for free.
In between this opening conversation with More and the next important step in Rich's complete loss of innocence, and More's own demise, a number of
changes occur in character relationships. Rich and Cromwell's relationship becomes closer and more valuable. More recognises this and assumes Rich no
longer requires More's assistance in aquiring employment. Rich objects to this, claiming he would rather work with More than Cromwell, however More again
refuses Rich a job as he is certain Rich is untrustworthy and to an extent, dangerous. This is obvious in that while More points out to Norfolk that Rich is in
search of employment, he does not "recommend" him.
In the book “The Boys of Winter” by Wayne Coffey, shows the struggle of picking the twenty men to go to Lake Placid to play in the 1980 Olympics and compete for the gold medal. Throughout this book Wayne Coffey talks about three many points. The draft and training, the importance of the semi-final game, and the celebration of the gold medal by the support the team got when they got home.
In Tobias Wolff’s 1985 short story “The Rich Brother,” we are introduced to two brothers. According to Wolf, you cannot even tell that they are brothers because of their physical differences, but as the story goes into more detail we can tell that they are different in every aspect. One of the major differences is that one is wealthy and the other is always in need of financial assistance. The older brother, Pete, is a successful real estate agent while his younger brother, Donald, works as a painter whenever he can. The two brothers are very different in their belief about what is valuable. Pete is a man that has worked hard and values what he has acquired. His brother Donald, on the other hand, values sharing whatever he has. Even if giving everything he has leaves him with nothing.
Machiavelli’s views were drastically different from other humanists at his time. He strongly promoted a secular society and felt morality was not necessary but stood in the way of a successfully governed state. He stated that people generally tended to work for their own best interests and gave little thought to the well being of the state. He distrusted citizens saying, “In time of adversity, when a state is in need of its citizens, there are few to be found.” In his writings in The Prince, he constantly questioned the citizens’ loyalty and warned for the leaders to be wary in trusting citizens. His radical and distrusting thoughts on human nature were derived out of concern for Italy’s then unstable government. Machiavelli also had a s...
Whether the Utopians are being examined for their value of precious metals, the treatment of women, or how they worship, it is evident that there are some major inequalities within their society. However, any reader of More’s Utopia must have the ability to look past the tensions that are present, and read the work as More intended it to be read—satirically.
Society today is split in many different ways: the smart and the dumb, the pretty and the ugly, the popular and the awkward, and of course the rich and the poor. This key difference has led to many areas of conflict among the population. The rich and the poor often have different views on issues, and have different problems within their lives. Moral decay and materialism are two issues prevalent among the wealthy, while things such as socio-economic class conflict and the American dream may be more important to those without money. Ethics and responsibilities are an area of thought for both classes, with noblesse oblige leaning more towards the wealthy.
While Machiavelli may not agree with Marx and Locke regarding human nature, their ideas evolved from their surrounding environments and economies. Marx and Locke advocated that human nature is enveloped in a thriving society. This provided us with valuable insight on the rights of man in pre-Capitalist societies, because equality is the main pillar supporting weight of human reason. Machiavelli argued that men are selfish and do not seek to help those in need, and would rather collect the propriety from a deceased father than mourn his passing. His satire suggests that human nature is not possible.
9. Russell Price, “The Theme of Gloria in Machiavelli” in Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 30, No. 4, Studies in the Renaissance Issue (Winter, 1977), pp. 588-631.
While Bigger Thomas does many evil things, the immorality of his role in Mary Dalton’s death is questionable. His hasty decision to put the pillow over Mary’s face is the climax of a night in which nothing has gone right for Bigger. We feel sympathy because Bigger has been forced into uncomfortable positions all night. With good intentions, Jan and Mary place Bigger in situations that make him feel "a cold, dumb, and inarticulate hate" (68) for them. Wright hopes the reader will share Bigger’s uneasiness. The reader struggles with Bigger’s task of getting Mary into her bed and is relieved when he has safely accomplished his mission.
In the beginning of the play, Walter is foolish and quarrelsome, with his heart set on becoming affluent. As he grasps how hard work his father worked and how hard his family works, he reasons that living by his standards is more important than gaining wealth, and he stops feeling resentful towards them. This play highlights how many members of society focus more on making money than living by their ethical
The alienation of Bigger Thomas leads to his character development. He is primitive, fearful, and quick tempered because of the isolation and racism he faces. He is created by the society that he lives in; the environment surrounding him leads to his downfall. Bigger knows that he was dead from the day he was born, the “blind” people around him are either too fearful or ignorant to see it. He knows that what he has accidentally done can never be justified to whites; he wants to die knowing he is equal to his counterparts.
Although Machiavelli gives numerous points on what it takes to excel as a prince, he also shows some raw examples of how he feels a prince should act in order to achieve maximum supremacy. First, when he says, "ought to hold of little account a reputation for being mean, for it is one of those vices which will enable him to govern" proves Machiavelli feels mighty adamant about his view that being mean will help a prince achieve success (332). It is absurd to imagine the meanest prince as the most successful. Also, when Machiavelli states, "our experience has been that those princes who have done great things have held good faith of little account, and have known how to circumvent the intellect of men by craft" revealing his attitude to manipulate people into fearing and respecting the prince (335). Also, Machiavelli shows that for a prince to be successful, he must not think about good faith.
In the realm of government, More described the Utopians with an air of patience, unity, and self-control, juxtaposed to the endless chaos of England 's Parliament. For the Utopians, “there is a rule that no decision can be made on a matter of public business unless it has been discussed in the senate on three separate
In the first scene of the play, Richard announces in a narration, his plan to
The author shows that money can change a characters behavior. You see this behavioral change in Claire by the way she dresses and acts as she is above everyone. In the beginning
At Machiavelli's time everyone believed that an individual had much to offer to the well being of the state, Machiavelli