Inexcusable Acts In Literature Essay Example For Students

Inexcusable Acts In Literature Essay Throughout many great works of literature there are numerous characters whose acts are either moral or immoral. In the works Euripides Medea, Shakespeares Othello and Boccaccios Decameron, Tenth Day, Tenth Story, the main characters all carry out actions which in todays day and age would be immoral and inexcusable. Medea takes on the most immoral act, in Euripides great tragic work. The morale of today varies greatly with that of the time periods in which these works were written. Gualtieri from Boccaccios work, Othello from Shakespeares work and Medea from Euripides work were all, for the most part, just in their actions because of the view of the citizens during their time period. These people played an immense part in what was viewed as right and wrong, just as in todays day. In Boccaccios Decameron, Tenth Day, Tenth Story, the main character, Gualtieri wants to test his new wife to see how loyal she is to him. In the beginning of the play, it is portrayed to the readers that Gualtieri is a very well respected, moral man. After being told that it is nessecary to find a wife, Gualtieri states, I will do as you request and so shall I have only myself to blame if things turn out badly, I want to be the one who chooses her, and I tell you now that if she is not honored by you as your lady.. .you will learn to your displeasure how serious a matter it was to compel me with your requests (Boccaccio 135).From this statement Gualtieri is portrayed as a compassionate man. He says he will blame no one but himself if things do not work out and once his wife is chosen he orders his people to respect her, no matter what. This is ironic for him to say, due to the actions he takes later in the story. As the play proceeds Gualtieris actions become more inexcusable and immoral. He wished to test his new wifes patience to see if she truly was as loyal a wife as she seemed to be. He first insulted her with harsh words, than told her the child that she bore was not good enough because it was not a male. In turn, Gualtieri ordered his wife to give him the child to be killed, to this his wife obeys. His plan, the whole time, was not to kill the child but to send her to one of his relatives in Bologna to be raised and educated. When the next child came, Gualtieri took the same monstrous act. The last scheme to his plan was to tell his poor wife that he no longer wished to be married t! o her and planned on marrying one of the counts of Panago and wished for Griselda, his wife, to be present, she did as asked. At the wedding Gualtieri announced that the young girl he planned on marrying was in fact his daughter, he sent away many years ago. He tells Griselda that he only wanted to teach her how to be a good wife and show his people how to choose and keep a wife. To this, Gualtieri was judged as one of the wisest men (142) by the people of the land. The actions Gualtieri took were very harsh, in the current views of our time and even of his time. When he pretended to murder his children and take a new wife his subjects criticized him bitterly and regarded him as a cruel man. Once he revealed his plan though, he was thought of in the highest manner, as the wisest of all men. Therefore, Gualtieri, was viewed as moral in the first moments of the story, performed these horrid acts, and his people still felt the same way towards him at the end of the story. His actions were accepted and even honored by his people.In todays world Gualtieris misdeeds would be viewed as immoral sins. Pride is what caused him to do these retched things. Pride, one of the seven deadly sins, is the wanting to elevate oneself above others. Gualtieri wanted to show his wife that he had power over her and that he was still higher than her in social status. Although the actions taken by Gualtieri were immoral, they do not compare to the sins of Othello and Medea. Campaign Finance Essay (2) This in turn foreshadows what is to come. As the play goes on Medeas plan gets more intricate and devious, By exiling me, he (Creon) has given me this one day to stay here and in this I will make dead bodies of three of my enemies-father, daughter and my husband (13). Medea is premeditating these murders, which only makes the actions taken, worse. After considering for a long period of time, she decides the best thing to do is to take the lives of her own children, the! most unthinkable, immoral, inexcusable crime. Medea goes on to murder the princess and her father than commits the ultimate crime, As quickly as I may kill my children and start away from this land, and not by wasting time, to suffer my children, to be slain by another hand is less kindly to themThis must be so, then I, their mother, shall kill them. (40). When her plan is complete, Medea escapes, with the bodies of her dead children to a land of safety, never to feel remorse for her actions.These extreme acts taken by the main character are not only inexcusable, but also immoral even in her time. In Medeas first speech to the Chorus of Corinthian women, she speaks of her own humiliation and plight. She goes on to call on their empathy as women to understand the wrongs done by her husband. She begs them to help her obtain her revenge on Jason, If I can find some means of devise of any scheme to pay my husband back for what he has done to me-him and his father-in-law and the girl who married him-Just to keep silent No other soul can hold so many thoughts of blood. (9)The chorus believes her taking revenge on her husband is suitable due to his acts, This I will promise. You are in the right, Medea, in paying your husband back. I am not surprised at you for being sad. (9). As the play goes on, and the chorus learns of her planned course of action, they try to deter her from committing these crimes, due to its immorality, Since you have shared with us the knowledge of your plan, I both wish to help you and support the normal ways of mankind, and tell you not to do this thing. (26). Medea feels this is the only way to instill revenge. I can do no other thing (26), she simply replies. Medeas intention to slaughter her own children is horrifying, in present time and in her time, due to the natural maternal instinct, to protect their children, therefore, the murder of ones children is unnatural and highly inexcusable no matter what the circumstances. The main reason Medea inflicted all of this pain on Jason is because of her overwhelming sense of pride, For it is not bearable to be mocked by enemies. So it must happen, Medea continues to say Let no one think of me a weak one, feeble-spirited, a stay-at-home, but rather just the opposite, one who can hurt my enemies and my friends for the lives of such persons are much remembered. (26). Medea does not want to be known as a delicate person, but as a dominant woman. For this reason, she commits these three immoral acts.The Decameron, Tenth Day, Tenth Story, Othello and Medea are all tragic works, with seemingly tragic heroes. All three heroes, Gualtieri, Othello, and Medea, hurt someone close to them in order to still retain their pride or end their jealousy towards another. Although many of the trivial standards of the present world are different than that of when the authors were writing, there are many substantial similarities, therefore judging a character based on only the morals of today would be unjust.