Human flaws are weaknesses in personality which result in outcomes that lead to disreputable actions. Through the dramatic irony of the monologue, the reader is able to gain an understanding of the social attitudes and patriarchal values in the Victorian Era which the human flaws in the monologue are based on. The study of “My Last Duchess” offers a significant understanding of the male ego and a male’s desire to be in control in a relationship. The factors determining a male’s desire to be in control are evident through Browning’s portrayal of the Duke through his need to retain his pride, extreme jealousy and his need to objectify women in order to satisfy the male ego. Browning contrasts the Duke’s representation of the duchess with the factual representation emphasising the Duke’s manic state and causing the audience to strongly oppose the duke as a person.
Like Thoreau, Dr. King feels that there is an innate good in all people, and knows that the collective cannot idly sit by while their compatriots are done an injustice. At the exact same time, however, Dr. King is aware of the effects of psychological deindividuation found in group settings when he acknowledges that “groups tend to be more immoral than individuals” ( 12). This statement is more an attack on the white oppressors than anything else. Through deindividuation, Dr. King reduces his opponents to faceless masses incapable of thinking for themselves, but rather are subject to the mob mentality. Dr. King recognizes that this is a potential flaw in collective action, but the justice pursued by his movement prevents his collective from such ill effects.
Through this we have learned that as working class, we expect and accept that we will be exploited by the ruling class in terms of our surplus value. This is known as a crisis of Hegemony. They go on to say that we have internalised the DVS to such an extent that any other value system seems absurd, resulting in a state of false class consciousness. Marx believed that we will see a social revolution which will overthrow capitalism and replace it with true communism. Marxism sees religion as a feature which is only relevant in a society based on class division I.E the ruling classes and the working classes.
In the play “An Inspector Calls”, J.B Priestly makes many different contrasts, all of which would relate to the problems in 1912 (Sexism, Ageism and Eliteism), these contrasts are shown in the play through the characters of the Birlings, Gerald and Eva Smith, all of which had varied opinions on the matters raised. One of the contrasts Priestly made was that of Capitalism and Socialism; the play is set in 1912, when there was conflict between the two views. Throughout the play Priestly conveys the messages of the two by creating characters in the play that have these views. Mr Birling is a prime example of this, as he portrays the stereotype of the upper-class business man and is seen as having capitalist views throughout the entirety of the play, which are the views that contrast with that of the two younger Birlings, as they are seen to have had more modern, socialist views than that of the rest of the family. Mr Birlings views also contrast with that of the Inspector – who Priestly, most probably, gave his own views, as Priestly's own views definitely leaned more towards that of a socialist, which is shown in the fact that he makes Mr Birling (a Capitalist) selfish and arrogant, whereas he makes Sheila and Eric seem regretful and more likeable than Mr Birling.
This is the issue that mostly bothered Jefferson, since he wanted the creation of a perfect society. The most important information derived from this secondary source was the ideologies that Jefferson had towards the Slaves and Native Americans. Jefferson believed these minorities were intellectually inferior and basically considered them a parasite and a libidinal race. To support my statement, I took this quote from the secondary source, “It must not allow its people to be “stained” and become a nation of mulattoes.” I found it very ironic at how Jefferson contradicts himself in several occasions, especially on this last quote because he himself had had children with his slave. Jefferson believes that slavery should be abolished because not only did it deprive the Black’s right to liberty, it also undermined the self control white men had to self republic.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, inadvertently took a stance against the treatment of blacks and against the overall character of the nation. In the book, Twain argues with support from varied syntax, mocking tone, and colloquial diction, that greed and racism will prevent progress-both economically and socially-in securing the independence of all Americans. Twain’s variety of syntax contains the hidden perspectives of society. The Formal syntax that is displayed by Huck when he is speaking to figures of authority have a deeper purpose than just respect. Huck elevates his sentence structure when talking with the Widow in order to appease her.
During this period the government went through changes and emerging through politics was the Liberals and the Conservatives, 1868-1894 saw the hardening of political parties. William Gladstone (1868-1894) was the liberal leader and Benjamin Disraeli (1868-1880) was the conservative leader. An open hatred and rivalry defined the age and although they had different principles their view and overall aim for poverty was very much similar. Both Disraeli and Gladstone agreed on not giving the poor handouts and benefits otherwise it would create laziness and wouldn't be fair on people who are working hard. Gladstone's view was let the poor help themselves, remove the barriers that stop them and allow them to help themselves.
How dislike is for Mr Birling created in An Inspector Calls by Priestly? Priestly was born in 1894 and believed that the upper class should be accepting responsibility and that the lower class should be treated equally. Priestly was aware that something had to change in 1946 in Britain and, In An Inspector Calls, Priestly uses Mr Birling as a typical upper class business owner who likes to follow the typical capitalist class system that needed to be changed. In the play, Priestly wants to portray the opposite of Birling’s views and by doing so through the use of different characters over the course of the play he creates dislike for Mr Birling and dislike for the upper class. In the play Birling fails to understand how the lower class
In Life at the Bottom, Theodore Dalrymple gives the reader a candid account of the realities of the British underclass, and the ideas that he firmly believes are at its origin. He takes to task the “intellectual” school of thought, which he feels has enabled the underclass’ worldview, which strips its members of the responsibility of their actions and behavior. Dalrymple states, that the cultural relativism propagated by the academics, has helped encourage and maintain the very ideas which are responsible for the underclass’ misery. He feels that these same intellectuals have betrayed the underclass, through its inadvertent lowering of social standards, and through their progressive ideology which has crippled the educational system. In his
Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience accepts the idea that one can hold one’s own morals over the restricting boundaries of the law. It criticizes American policies, most notably slavery and the Mexican-American war. James Baldwin’s A Talk to Teachers criticizes the American education system. It also identifies the paradox of education in a society as well. However, both men seek these things for the benefit of civilization.