Just because you do something questionable does it make you a bad person? That is the question that we should pose to the general prologue profile of the pilgrim called the Manciple. The narrator never says outright that the Manciple has done anything wrong, but through vague references leaves the door open to interpretation. At first reading the Manciple seems to be a fine working class guy who is doing right by his clients. He seems to be a hard working member of society that just wants to make sure his client's get what they need. A manciple would be the equivalent of a modern-day caterer who in this case was responsible for acquiring food for a group of 30 "learned men" (18). The learned men are lawyer's who live and work in the Inner …show more content…
One line into his portion of the general prologue we see that the narrator is expounding on the manciple's virtues in his profession by stating that he is an “example” to all other caterers when buying food (18). By saying “he was never rash” (18) it seems that the narrator is saying he wasn't quick to get the first thing he could find. He would take his time to make a decision on what he was going to purchase for his clients whether it was his money or not (18). At first glance this shows that he was being a good steward of his client's money which could be an allusion to the tale in the Bible about the talents. It also seemingly shows that he treated their money as if it were his own money applying the same frugal processes that used in his own personal finances. To further illustrate this point, the narrator indicates that the manciple would watch the market and get “in first, and so he did quite nicely” (18). This paints a picture of the Manciple looking for the best deal possible for his clients. I can only imagine that he would set out to get the most exotic items maybe to make the “learned men” happy. He played to their tastes and higher class wants by keeping abreast of what was coming next at the
First, some background on what was expected of men at this time. Natalie Zemon Davis describes expectancies of men through a number of instances in Martin Guerre’s life. Men had large roles to fulfill both in their households and in the community. At home, the male was considered the “lord” of the household and was expected to provide for the family. In the article Manhood, Patriarchy, and Gender, Alexandra Shepard illustrates manhood as being in control,
He is a fool and his friends are fools but it's not easy to spot the biggest fool him or his friends. Another important part in this article is the ¨First Moral¨ line 25: Don't do business with people for whom April first is an important date they will use your bank balance to buy eight thousand pies, tunics, ballet slippers with bells and a mail order lake in the middle of the desert for splash parties. The author is explaining how you can get fooled and also what happens when you get fooled, when he gets fooled they use your money to buy lots of things and just waste your money and don’t do their job right.
“But you didn’t give me as much as you gave him. isn’t my money as good as his? Don’t you know they always give men more?”(Page 168)
“…When men compete for the hand of a lady, A woman of some worth, a rich man’s daughter. They bring cattle, and fat sheep, To feast the bride’s friends, and they give her Glorious gifts. They do not devour Another’s livelihood without recompense.” She spoke, and Odysseus, the godlike survivor, Smiled inwardly to see how she extracted gifts
Men were strong but crude and more vulnerable to savagery or a beastly way of life. They were to be guided by the gentle hands of their loving
Sara's father wanted to control everybody else's lives, in his family, but he did not want anyone telling him how to do things. He felt that he should be able to control the family spendings even though he did not earn a penny. He went against his wife's request and used every penny of their savings to buy the store. His wife asked him, "Promise me that you won't pay out the money till I come to see what you buy." (113). He went ahead and bought the store without letting his wife come down to see it first like he had promised her. He made a huge mistake then, just as he had with his daughters. He did not pick a good husband for any of his daughters. He was fooled not only by the store owner but also by the daughters' husbands. The reason he made all these mistakes is because he would not listen to anyone's advice. If he had listened to his wife, he would not have bought the store because she would have been with him, and she would have noticed something was wrong because she was already suspicious. She says, "Does he really ask only four hundred dollars for all this?...Ask him to give you a pencil to count up all the goods there is in stock." (114). She has more sense about business then he does, but he gets to be in control of all their money. Today, women have more of a say in what goes on with the financial part of the family as well as with who they are going to
World war one was the biggest war anyone had ever seen, known as the war to end all wars 2.8 million Americans were drafted to go and fight. Seven countries were the major powers but 32 countries were involved in the war. The biggest turning point in the war was America joining and it caused what had since been a brutal war with no clear winning side to become an uneven fight, resulting in the win of the Allied Forces. When we joined the war many acts and laws were passed, some were questionable such as the espionage act.
In “Debasing Exchange: Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth,” author Wai-Chee Dimock argues that the society portrayed in the novel, which is a reflection of 19th century upper class New York, revolves around the idea that the business ethics of the economic “marketplace” determines all aspects of the culture. More specifically, this causes all forms of social interactions to be viewed as “currency,” with the precise value of a certain act or relationship determined by whoever possesses the most power. As Dimock herself puts it, “as a controlling logic, a mode of human conduct and human association, the marketplace is everywhere and nowhere, ubiquitous and invisible” (375). While some might wonder whether the marketplace really is the ultimate guiding structure for this particular fictionalized society, Dimock contends nevertheless that this interpretation is a viable one, due to the marketplace’s “ability to reproduce itself,” and thus “assimilate everything… into its domain” (375). I myself find Dimock’s argument both interesting and useful in interpreting The House of Mirth because of the clarity with which she presents the often complicated, critical lens of Marxism.
During the New Kingdom of Egypt (from 1552 through 1069 B.C.), there came a sweeping change in the religious structure of the ancient Egyptian civilization. "The Hymn to the Aten" was created by Amenhotep IV, who ruled from 1369 to 1353 B.C., and began a move toward a monotheist culture instead of the polytheist religion which Egypt had experienced for the many hundreds of years prior to the introduction of this new idea. There was much that was different from the old views in "The Hymn to the Aten", and it offered a new outlook on the Egyptian ways of life by providing a complete break with the traditions which Egypt held to with great respect. Yet at the same time, there were
For purposes of character and plot development, the men in the story are superfluous for the most part. Their major contribution to the story is their good-natured contempt
When most Voyageurs reached land, they were thoroughly disappointed. A great portion of the drive to become a Voyageur was the promise of riches and fame when they returned to their journey. Unfortunately, a great fraction of the time the Voyageurs returned to their birthplace to discover that their families were not loyal to them any longer. Wives remarried and had other children, and children all but forgot who they were. The cause for this to happen was only partially caused by time apart-the voyageurs were often looked upon by some as dirty men without manners, some eating their rations from their pockets or hats. But the separation is understandable. These restriction caused many complications. The average age a voyageur started working
Faithful is just a guy who, like Christian, escapes his past life and pursues a life that is down the straight and narrow path of Christianity. A Righteous man, ridiculed, tortured, and finally burnt at the stake for his faith, Faithful lives up to his name and is the martyr of The Pilgrim's Progress—the one who suffers and dies for what he believes in. Before Christian meets Faithful on the road from the Palace Beautiful, Christian seems to be the only real pilgrim on the journey to the Celestial City. The others pilgrims he has met on his journey (Formalist and Hypocrisy, Mr. Worldly-Wiseman, Mr. Pliable) have either abandoned the journey for its extreme struggles or for being shown the hollowness of their faith. But Faithful is different unlike his friends he did not have a hollow faith so when he faced the trials and tribulations he did not deal with them because of his strong faith in the Lord.
Merchants and bankers were the most socially mobile group in the renaissance. The often started from humble beginnings- as peddlers or craftsmen, for example- and exploited new commercial opportunities to become very wealthy. Once they were rich, they tried to behave like the nobility. Many became patrons and leaders of society (“Social Order” pp.58).
Relating to the play Cat On A Hot Tin Roof mendacity acts as a flaw in every character’s personality. Mendacity also tends to hinder improvement amongst the relationships in the Pollitt family. From as early as the first act when we witness Maggie’s
In the medieval period, the Old English elegies use unnamed speakers that offer similar descriptions of devastated landscapes and immense personal hardships. However, where the unknown authors’ of the Old English elegies often present smilier descriptions and themes across their respective works, they do not present similar opinions on larger concerns like religion and the role of community. This is a concept that is interwoven into the framework of the Old English elegies “The Wanderer” and “The Seafarer”. By comparing and contrasting these two works, this paper will argue that the unnamed narrators’ vivid descriptions of landscapes, circumstances surrounding their exile, and climactic perspectives on the earthly community function solely