What is more honorable, selflessness or mercy? In the Franklin’s tale, the Franklin poses this question as he compares the behaviors of Arveragus to Aurelius in his tale. Both men behave in respectable manners, but the intention of their acts separates them. The selflessness of Arveragus outweighs the mercy of Aurelius because Arveragus’s motivation is love, whereas Aurelius’s motivation is pity. In his relationship with Dorigen, Arveragus models selflessness. Understanding the importance of honor, Arveragus allows his wife to join with another man to prevent her from public humiliation and shame. He assures her “all may be well, but you must keep your word. For, as may God be merciful to me, I rather would be stabbed than live to see you …show more content…
Dorigen submits herself to the stipulations of the oath, yet Aurelius responds with mercy and compassion. Upon seeing Dorigen, “Aurelius felt a great surge of pity” and decides “the better course was to forgo his passion rather than to force an act on her” (430). Seeing Dorigen’s devotion to their promise, he values that she complies despite the result of separation from her one true love. Demonstrating compassion, Aurelius empathizes with Arveragus, saying that he would “rather suffer too than come between” Dorigen and Arveragus (430). He applauds the commitment of both Dorigen and Arveragus in acting in the most respectable manner, noting that Arveragus “in his nobleness, would have preferred to die in his distress rather than that his wife should break her word” and similarly, Dorigen “would have rather lost her life” (432). Feeling sorry that the two must endure separation, Aurelius sees the virtue in Arveragus’ actions and sends Dorigen back to her husband, freeing her from “all bonds or deeds of covenant that stand between” them (430). Now, had Arveragus presented Aurelius with more opposition, his response may have been different. For this reason, his mercy is not as honorable as Arveragus’s
virtuous and then, because of this, asks her to marry him (V, i, 530). We can
Of the many conflicting philosophies, morality, when referring to one's sense of ethics, is the greatest and most intriguing disparity between the Ancient Greek ideologies of heroism and the contemporary views of today. By the standards of the Greeks, Achilles was a Hero. He was the embodiment of the individual, a man of unwavering principle, not only unwilling but incapable of allowing his values to become compromised. His credo and the actions determined though it, while certainly irreconcilable with present ethical standards, are strongly rooted in his own idea of justice. Jason, the archetype of the tragic hero, used Medea for personal gain, and then discarded her, but in so doing, avenged his family and freed a kingdom from a tyrant. Heracles, despite having killed his children and wives, rose above the confines of mortality through heroic deeds, and excruciating pain, both physical and emotional, to transform into an immortal god. The Ancient Greeks did not differentiate between the Hero and the Anti-Hero, judging them not by their methods but by their justness.
Plato’s Republic focuses on one particular question: is it better to be just or unjust? Thrasymachus introduces this question in book I by suggesting that justice is established as an advantage to the stronger, who may act unjustly, so that the weak will “act justly” by serving in their interests. Therefore, he claims that justice is “stronger, freer, and more masterly than justice” (Plato, Republic 344c). Plato begins to argue that injustice is never more profitable to a person than justice and Thrasymachus withdraws from the argument, granting Plato’s response. Glaucon, however, is not satisfied and proposes a challenge to Plato to prove that justice is intrinsically valuable and that living a just life is always superior. This paper will explain Glaucon’s challenge to Plato regarding the value of justice, followed by Plato’s response in which he argues that his theory of justice, explained by three parts of the soul, proves the intrinsic value of justice and that a just life is preeminent. Finally, it will be shown that Plato’s response succeeds in answering Glaucon’s challenge.
She fully embraces her masculinity, as she triumph over his lifeless body, and speaks exultantly of her victory "fallen thus, he gasped away his life, and as he breathed forth quick spurts of blood, he struck me with dark drops of gory dew; while I rejoiced no less than the sown earth is gladdened in heaven's refreshing rain at the birth time of the flower buds"(1389- 1402). She arrogantly concludes that her actions are just and that justice has been served in Agamemnon murder. With glee and delight she proudly announces to the chorus of Agamemnon death, "you are testing me as if I were a witless woman. But my heart does not quail, and I say to you who know it well and whether you wish to praise or to blame me, it is all one here is Agamemnon, my husband, now a corpse, the work of this right hand, a just workman” (1402-1405). However, the chorus does not agree with what the queen has done and shows their anger with her actions, "you, pathetic- the king had just returned from battle. You waited out the war and fouled his lair, you planned my great commander's fall" (1625-1627). The chorus feels that Clytemnestra has only wronged Agamemnon, rather than accomplishing justice she only perpetuates to the circle of violence that has riddled the family, “violence beget violence”. In their opinion, she is
Not only does Virgil present women as completely vulnerable to their emotions, but he also shows the problems that arise when these women engage in decisions where they put their own feelings ahead of their people. Virgil explicitly shows women neglecting important responsibilities when he describes passages concerned with Dido’s affair and her death, the Trojan women burning their own ships, Queen Amata’s opposition to Latinus’s proposal and her tragic death. Once Dido falls in love with Aeneas, Virgil uses a simile to describe the wound that Dido suffers from. The flame keeps gnawing into her tender marrow hour by hour, and deep in her heart the silent wound lives on. Dido burns with love—the tragic queen.
Emilia has a fierce sense of loyalty. After Desdemona’s death she catches wind of Iago’s malicious scheme, and swears that, “I’ll make [Iago’s scheme] known,/ Though I lost twenty lives” (V.ii.87). Emilia had been a close friend of Desdemona’s throughout the play, and her death had a large impact on Emilia, who thought nothing but kindness and virtue of her late friend. Even when Othello tries convincing Emilia that “[Desdemona] turn’d to folly, and she was a whore” (V.ii.85), Emilia stays adamant on the fact that Desdemona would never cheat. Up until the point that Iago murders her, Emilia fights for the truth and defends her friend with a sense of loyalty unfathomable
Emilia, while lying next to her best friend on her deathbed, began to suppress her passive nature and attempts persecute the murderer. Nonetheless, the only woman who stood up for herself got killed in the end by her own husband. Othello and Iago’s wives were thought to be disloyal to their husband, while only one of them was correct in this accusation, Desdemona and Emilia were both murdered by the people they pledged their allegiance to. But, Emilia was the only woman who denounced the authority men had over women and compares the qualities of both men and women. She is fully aware of the gender
Shakespearian tales always leave us with a plethora to ponder about the Elizabethan age and Shakespeare himself. “Othello” is no break in this mold, leaving us to ponder the roll of Iago within the harsh tale of love and murder. Iago is the one to tell Othello of his wife’s betrayal with Cassio, hence making up a story that will work to his favor yet betray those around him. Iago betrays his wife, Emilia, but not only her as he drags Othello, Desdemona, and Cassio into the mix of lies and the hatred he is spreading to improve his rank with Othello. But were Iago’s acts unjust and done for the sake of it? Is he a heartless man who’s only happiness is to bring sorrow upon others? No, Iago has a just reason for what he does, even though he causes the deaths of Cassio, Emilia, and Desdemona in his search for revenge; Iago is not a heartless fiend, just a man wronged.
An honorable person can be defined as someone who rarely commits a sin and someone who is right and just throughout their whole entire life. There is a dispute going on about whether Marcus Brutus is an honorable man or not an honorable man. Most of the people that form the conspirators kill Caesar because of jealousy. However, Brutus kills him because of what is the best for Rome. Marcus Brutus is the hero in the play Julius Caesar because he is loyal to Rome, he is respectful to his people, and humble to those who are less fortunate than him.
Othello, through Iago’s manipulation and Desdemona’s compliments to Cassio, starts to mistrust his wife because he is convinced she is having an affair and becomes convinced to the point he can not believe his wife’s faithfulness. Iago’s disrespect and cruel views towards women enables him to manipulate Othello because he does not care about the fates of women and would rather not deal with them. Also, Iago hurting his wife both mentally and physically illustrates his mistrust towards his wife because he does not believe his wife is faithful and he hurts her, in efforts to prove his superiority. Lack of communication between spouses in relationships can bring many arguments because they are unwilling to admit their mistakes or admit something bothering them and once it all these emotions boil up inside it can lead to the argument becoming worse. These intense arguments can lead to spouses acting upon emotions, which they will later regret their actions during these fight, but in the moment they are too blinded by emotions realize their mistakes. Miscommunication can also lead to others being labeled based on other’s perspective of the person, which is bad because they might not act that way, but if the person does not confront them then they will always assume the other person’s view of a person is correct, instead of learning the truth by meeting the
...estructive. Love led to Dido’s physical death and it lead to Augustine’s spiritual death. Virgil and Augustine further demonstrate that there our ideals greater than love. Aeneas ends his romance with Dido in order to fulfill his destiny to become founder of Rome. Aeneas must obey the gods before his passion. Augustine forsakes his life of lust when Christ calls him. He obeys his God and learns to love and esteem Him above all else. Aeneas fulfills his duty to his gods and to his country; Augustine fulfills his duty to His God and his church. Duty should take precedence and overpower love.
This myth also parallels with the story of Narcissus and Echo. Both Narcissus and Adonis are troubled with sexuality, therefore illustrating Dorian’s relationship with Sibyl. Adonis avoids Venus and the myth suggests that such behaviour leads to death.
…First, we must buy our husband at a high price and take a master over our bodies, an even more painful evil than the other. Here the stakes are the highest: do we take a bad man or a good one? A woman can’t get divorced and keep her good reputation, as she has no right to refuse her husband…” (Euripides, 2007, p. 21).
Glaucon attempted to prove that injustice is preferable to justice. At first, Glacon agreed with Socrates that justice is a good thing, but implored on the nature of its goodness? He listed three types of “good”; that which is good for its own sake (such as playing games), that which is good is good in itself and has useful consequences (such as reading), and that which is painful but has good consequences (such as surgery). Socrates replied that justice "belongs in the fairest class, that which a man who is to be happy must love both for its own sake and for the results." (45d) Glaucon then reaffirmed Thrasymachus’s position that unjust people lead a better life than just people. He started that being just is simply a formality for maintaining a good reputation and for achieving one’s goals. He claimed that the only reason why a person would choose to be unjust rather than just due to the fear of punishment. This is supported by the story of the shepherd who became corrupted as a result of finding a ring which made him invisible. He took over the kingdom through murder and intrigue since he knew there could be no repercussions for his unjust actions. In addition, Adiamantus stated that unjust people did not need to fear divine punishment since appeals could be made to Gods’ egos via sacrifices. Finally, Glaucon gave an example of the extreme unjust person who has accumulated great wealth and power which he juxtaposed with an extreme moral man who is being punished unjustly for his crimes. Clearly, injustice is preferable to justice since it provides for a more fruitful life.
Emilia’s role in the tragedy seems very small at first. Iago mentions suspicions of unfaithfulness very early on (I, iii) but it is not these suspicions that Emilia contributes to her death and the death of others. Rather, it is the very simple action of...