P O R T I A By my troth, Nerissa, my little body is
aweary of this great world.
N E R I S S A: You would be, sweet madam, if your
miseries were in the same abundance as your good fortunes are ; and yet for
aught I see, they are as sick that surfeit with too much as they that starve
with nothing. It is no mean
happiness, therefore, to be seated in the mean - superfluity comes sooner by white hairs, but
competency lives longer.
When I read Romeo and Juliet, I was able to sense
the differences between wealthy people and common people. The first one had to
face enormous contraries because of their position; they had to keep an image
–besides as the higher you climb, the harder you fall- and tested if the one
who were around them was because they had interest or they were sincere. On the
contrast, the latest lived their lives simply, they didn’t have interpersonal
issues and they knew their position and what they are.
In Merchant of Venice the difference is
even more notorious. We can see how Portia had to be the good daughter, respect
her father’s will and be cautious with the fortune inherited, which is why she
had to marry to a men with no interests made on her fortune. If we remember the
scene of the caskets, we can see the evidence that how worry was her father
about that issue: her father placed her not in the golden casket because that
will mean that men just wanted money; not in the silver one because it will
mean that men just desire her as a trophy; but the lead casket, the simplest
one will represent a leap of faith, a risk taken for those who actually love.
Moreover, Portia
had to be cautious enough to not commit any mistakes, since she was the head of
Belmont,
everyone will see if she failed. Keep up appearances was an issue, which is why
I previously stated that the higher you climb, the harder you fall.
It seems that those
who have more money have to be aware of golden diggers, be cautious about their
relationships and be always testing those who are around them.
Do you agree with
me? It seems as if wealthy people attract more problems. Can you think on other
example?
When I read your entry, I recalled Fiztgerald's "The Great Gatsby." I don't know if you have had the chance to read, if not, do it (it's awesome). My point is that in this book, Fitzgerald carefully sets up his novel into different social groups but, at the end, each group has its own problems to deal with, each group has different concerns and struggles. This gives us the message that it is not about rich or poor people, it is about the precarious place the world really is, how we are embedded in it, and how our attitudes are towards world itself and life. But, it is tru when you say that the higher you climb, the deeper you fall because everything has a consequence, everything ends up teaching up about life and what is right or wrong.
ResponderEliminarThat's true...everybody has different problems. But at least in these books, it seems that rich people looked for problem or attracted more problems to them since their position; and other people are waiting -sometimes ansiously- for see them falling.
ResponderEliminarThinking that the lower class people want to see the upper class people falling sounds funny, though real. Just have a look at the Chilean history.
ResponderEliminarHowever, I think that everybody was paying attention to the ruler's life, because, as we studied in class, the king or queen embodied the whole country. So any wrong decision they made, would affect directly the lives of everybody.
I have to say that I agree with Natalyn, and I wouldn't go as far as thinking that only the rich people had or attracted problems. Probably we get that feeling, because they are the main characters of the play. But being a lower class person in those days, must have not an easy thing. Consider that any reach person could do whatever they wanted with them. Just like landlords with their servants in Chile some hundred years ago.
Indeed, but it seems they have those fantastic lifes and to add some emotion they build problems around them, such as follow ridiculous test to honor a father's will and so on and so forth.
ResponderEliminarMeanwhile, poor people have regular problems related to money or lifestyles; they do not care fall in love or follow their hearts, because they had real problems, not those created by rich people.