Blessed Are the Wealthy

In-class essay.

PROMPT:

Through tatter'd clothes small vices do appear,

Robes and furr'd gowns hide all. Plate sin with gold,

And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks;

Arm it in rags, a pigmy's straw does pierce it.

 

   The lines above are from a speech by King Lear. Write a carefully reasoned essay in which you briefly paraphrase Lear's statement and then defend, challenge or qualify his view of the relationship between wealth and justice. Support your arguement with specific references to your reading, observation, or experience.

 

   There exists a wickidness in the esteemed virtues of wealth and an honest nobleness that correlates with a lack of wealth and the black-or-white justification that is justice. Suspicions arouse and fade with displays of wealth, but Shakespeare  "King Lear" colors an objective justice that sees corruption where there appears wealth.

   It can be argued that there is some small semblance of truth in the content of King Lear's speech. The character claims that the poor are spared undeserved punishment because a "pigmy's straw" and "rags" pierce sin, when history strongly supports otherwise. When Japan invaded China in the prelude to World War II, a city was sacked, and the Japanese troops were free to have their way with the poor and downtroddenpopulace of a declining nation. If the death toll of thousands of innocent civilians that day can be attributed to justice, then there can be found no falsity in Shakespeare's claims.

   In today's contemporary society, those with access to great wealth are not subject to the same "justice" as the common man. Young and wealthy celebrities are acquitted of the consequences of their actors, and justice loses its consistency as being even-handed. Paris Hilton's ten DUI's are equivalent to a common man's one. OJ Simpson gets a free 'get out of jail free card' and his gold-plated sins stand firm under the meek blows of "the strong lance of justice." Wealth creates the boundaries upon which justice is served.

   Justice is violated as wealthy individuals escape the repurcussions of their actions where those without means are pierced and broken. The dactors of wealth and justice are inversely proportional as more wealth results in less justice and henceforth. "Robes and furr'd gowns hide all" and authority is unsuspecting.

 

 

Author's Note

As you know, the quality of in-class essays generally are significantly less than those one slaves over at home. Any typos in the text are a result of my typing, and did not exist on the actual essay itself. Thanks!

And yes, I am embarrassed in how I made references to Paris Hilton and OJ Simpson in my essay...the pressure got to me!!!! :D