Thursday, October 21, 2010
Virtue Limited to Lower Class?
Do you think it is fair of Charles Dickens to represent those with money as greedy and mean, while those who are poor are virtuous and kind? Is this "reality" or what is Dickens saying with these portraits of class differences? Do you think virtue is limited to lower income groups or can wealthy people be generous and kind?
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ReplyDeleteI don't think it's fair for Charles Dickens to embody those with greater wealth as "greedy and mean" and those with lower-income as "virtuous and kind" because even though those who are in a higher class they are not all the same person. Each individual has different characteristics, and vice versa for those who are in a lower ranking. Although I disagree with the way Dickens expresses his opinion on lower and higher classes, I could see why he would base his judgement. I believe he based his opinion this way, because in today's time frame majority of the higher classes act "mean and greedy" as appose to the poor. So this does have to do with reality.
ReplyDeleteCharles Dickens, like many other authors, portrays the wealthy as greedy and mean to show that just because you posses money doesn’t mean that your attitude and personality are great. I think Dickens was showing us the differences in attitude of the opposite classes. Wealthy people aren’t all alike and don’t have the same attitude; there are always diversity in people and money doesn’t always play a part in that. Wealth and money can have an affect in the way people treat others, but the less fortunate can also have the same behavior toward others. Virtue can’t be satisfied with just money; attitude, goodwill, and righteousness all play a factor in virtue. If you posses these traits than your virtue will be good, but if your greedy and mean, rich or poor, than your virtue isn’t so good.
ReplyDeleteWhen Dickens calls the higher class “greedy” it's not about giving the higher class a bad image but exemplifying what the general group of higher class people acted like during the Industrialization era. It doesn’t mean all the higher class society members are grouches, because there are generous people. I believe this has to do with reality because Dickens writes about horrible living conditions during Industrialization in his novels.
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