Criticism oof Society by Modern Day Writers

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Criticism of society was a predominant theme found throughout modern literature. Authors often found themselves in a position where it became their job to highlight the hypocrisies in the world, and make readers reflect on corrupt morals the public believed justified. These writers of the modern era made the readers step out of their comfort zone and reconsider conventional ethics and standards such as the treatment of women, religion, and human behaviors. Twentieth century writers, more so than any other time prior, made the readers rethink traditional notions. Until the modern era, it was a common philosophy that women were subordinate second-class citizens; during the modern era, authors started to argue against the notion that women were secondary to men. Stories started to demonstrate why it was wrong to criticize the prostitute instead of the society that inhibited the women’s ability to have another type of job, or why threating ostracization to force women to become simple-minded without opinion is detrimental. In "Mrs. Warren’s profession", by Bernard Shaw, Mrs. Warren defends her choice to become a prostitute manager: it was less deadly than working with the chemicals in the factories, it made more money than waitressing, and she got to keep all the profits for her work and not just a small percentage of a profit. Most people in the play who discovered Mrs. Warren’s line of work showed repulsion towards her and not the economy that made prostitution such a viable option. It was easier in the job market for men to thrive, and women had to work at lower level jobs. Shaw wondered why people got mad over women deciding to become involved with prostitution and not at the sexist job prospects that forced women to do so. An ad... ... middle of paper ... ...l, did something because society taught him to do it and not because it was the logical thing to do. The aforementioned authors questioned the reader’s structured notion of reality, and made the readers think of why they do illogical but traditional tasks. In the twentieth century, writers began to question why humanity does things the way they are, and therefore made the readers question the same things. Whether the authors questioned the way the perception of women, religion, non-rational actions, or any other deceptive tradition, they were changing how people saw the world. Without the ability to question the world around us, we are subjected a dictatorship with tradition on the throne, and are stuck in the shoes of our predecessors without walking room for progress. We must question the world around us to grow, and constantly keep our view of reality in check.

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