When a hero slaughters many innocent, what does that make the hero? The idea of good or evil is based on one word, that word being morality. Morality itself is just human conception and innovation. In general morality is “the human attempt to define what is right and wrong about our actions and thoughts, and what is good and bad about our being.”(Jones, 2) But what makes an action, object, or person good or bad? Pleasure, happiness or any other good feelings, or lack of, is what makes something moral. Even though there is no set, written rules for morality; the forte of morality codes worldwide. If an action or person distresses a group, it’s deemed immoral. An example could be shown with this quote: “In one view, Abe 's act is immoral because
(For clearer explanation in this essay, Edmond Dantès refers to Edmond Dantès and what he becomes later novel after his symbolic death in prison, the Count of Monte Cristo.) In action of his revenge, the murder of Caderousse’s wife, Monsieur le Marquis de Saint-Méran and Madame la Marquise de Saint Méran, Héloïse de Villefort, and Barrois happen with no from remorse Dantès. These victims most had nothing to do with the Dantès directly. They were just pawns of his little game of revenge. “The problem of innocent suffering does not trouble Monte Cristo, even though his revenge wreaks devastation on whole families.”(Aubrey 2) Even though he is sent to prison wrongfully, he should not be able to ruin so many lives for his act of revenge. Also, over the course of the book, he confuses his desire for revenge and claims various times that his revenge is for justice. “Revenge is mostly about “acting out” (typically through violence) markedly negative emotions. Revenge is, by nature, personal; justice is impersonal, impartial, and both a social and legal phenomenon.” (Seltzer 1) Revenge is the thing that clouds his morals most, and the fact that he even thinks he is God-like for most of the story shows how disconnected he is, morally. “Dantès puts himself in a position that is god-like to exercise complete
Dorian Gray was written to represent any pleasures that was deemed immoral in their time, and the one most associated with is it homosexuality. “The Picture of Dorian Gray would acknowledge the way in which all its symbolic figurations--sexual, religious, and philosophical--are culturally and historically conditioned, but it would also identify the way in which those culturally conditioned figurations organize the elemental, biologically grounded dispositions of human nature.” (Carroll, 4) The Count of Monte Cristo does not seem to have that strong of a ground for morals, but still has the general idea none the less, which deals with the idea of revenge and why it should not be pursued, or even the relationships with God in Christianity. Yet the major difference of the outcome of the two characters Dorian Gray and Edmond Dantès, is the way that even though they both represent Christian guilt and are the characters someway have shameful feelings to their actions, Dantès was able to repent and fully bask in his guilt. Dorian was not. Dorian was under the impression that he was already bad ever since the incident with Sybil, and since he wasn’t able to fully apologies with his soul, those bad feeling just pent up and up until it ate him alive. “Wilde was under the impression that it is possible to be spiritual and religious, but he found himself-incapable of achieving it.” (Pearce,
The Count of Monte Cristo, a captivating novel written by Alexander Dumas, tells the story of a young French sailor, Edmond Dantès, in 1815 who spends fourteen years in prison through the acts of his jealous and conspiring enemies. He eventually escapes with hatred and a vengeance that calculatingly dictates the kind of man he develops into. In this novel the Count of Monte Cristo, in secret Dantès, seeks nearly unrelenting revenge when he returns to Marseilles looking for his enemies. Acting under the self proclamation of divine providence, Dantès spends the first ten years of freedom, a prisoner of no emotion other then vengeful hatred.
As everyone is thinking that Dantes is dead from prison, he really escaped and changed his name to The Count of Monte Cristo. Changing his name was a way to disguise him from being Dantes. After being locked up for so long, no one knew who he was. This disguise kept him from not having to go back to prison, and also helped with getting revenge on those who sent him to prison for no reason. In this novel, since Dantes was not able to be recognized, he used this dishonesty to back at Danglars, Mercedes, Benedetto, and Caderousse.
When asking people about what characteristics they think of when they think of a hero the most common answers would be doing good deeds and not allowing evil to flourish. This is what we have been made to believe. One of the first images that come to mind when the word hero is mentioned is a superhero. An image of Batman or Superman is likely, one who is good natured and conquers evil as it appears. Just doing good deeds or not committing evil sins is not enough. First you would have to distinguish the difference between an evil and a good action. The line between good and evil is so thin that specific attributes and certain actions are constantly being exchanged back and forth. We cannot decide as a society what is good and what is evil. A modern day example would be when the United States made the decision to bomb Japan during World War II. For Americans celebration ensued as it was thought to be a decisive moment of victory. Those who were involved in t...
This concept is also present in the Count of Monte Cristo. After Danglars deceives the leaders of France and frames Edmond Dantes, Dantes is put into prison for fourteen years.... ... middle of paper ... ...
In "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde, we see a beautiful young man who makes tremendous efforts to transform the actual world into the idealistic world of art, dreams and sensations. Dorian's quest, however, culminates in his ultimate tragic destruction. Given that Dorian lives a corrupt life, one is likely to focus on the negative aspects of his character. In spite of his significant character flaws, Dorian Gray may still be considered a hero. This essay will examine Dorian's degradation from the innocent world to the vicious, sensation-oriented world. The elements contributing to Dorian’s status of tragic hero will then be discussed.
The Count of Monte Cristo is a book written by Alexandre Dumas that shows the limits of justice in human society, the power of perseverance and the influence of vengeance. Edmond Dantes was betrayed by his friends and sent to prison for treason, which he was framed of doing. While he was in prison, a priest named Abbe Faria mentored Edmond and taught him several different languages, politics and economics. He eventually escaped prison posing himself as a dead body to be tossed out into the sea, found a great fortune, and served personal vengeance to his hostile betrayers. From a sailor to a wealthy Count, this story shows how injustice can bring good things, and the lawbreakers will not live without any consequences.
There is no doubt that when bad things happen to people, they want to reflect their misery on others whom they think caused it, which is exactly what happened with Edmond Dantes, a once innocent man who became consumed by hatred.
In The Count of Monte Cristo Dantès is an extremely successful young man with a great fortune ahead of him. Dantès however, clearly knowing he is blind due to love, cares nothing of the happenings around him. He is unaware of the fact that the people all around him have something against him. Dantès therefore, ends up inviting his enemy to his wedding, thus causing himself to be at harm at a place at which he knows he will be at unawares because of the “love that blinds him”. Therefore, Dantès is a tragic hero because it is his fault that he wasn’t aware that the people all around him were plotting against him.
While getting inspiration for Monte Cristo, he heard a story about a man, which inspired the plot for his novel. Picaud, the man whom inspired the story, gained vengeance in a much more gruesome way than Dantes does. Picaud takes vengeance whereas Dantes is avenged. Justice is achieved because good is stronger than evil, not because of the Count’s power (Stowe 125). Perhaps this is Dumas’s opinion on vengeance. If it is well earned, then it will fall into the man’s hands rightfully (Maurois). Dumas’s inspiration for the novel also came from his personal life. His father was heavily mistreated, and as he watched helplessly for his whole childhood, it became important to him to avenge his father. Although people in his own life may not have wronged him as they did his father, he believes in revenge, and sought revenge through his literature (Maurois). Through the character of Edmond Dantes, Dumas portrayed his own desire to justify his father’s oppressors. In Maurois’s article, he speaks about this, saying, “He must have been sorely tempted to find compensation in fiction for the iniquities of the real world.” Perhaps he was afraid to vocalize his opinion publicly, so he decided on a more subtle route, which was to create a story that everyone could identify with. Writing Monte Cristo must have been closure for Dumas at the expense of his father. He sought vengeance in the form of literature
Could someone who kills innocent people possibly be considered a hero? In William Shakespeare's tragic drama "Macbeth" this question is raised. According to the Greek philosopher Aristotle there are certain requirements that categorize a person to be a tragic hero, some of which Macbeth does possess. However, Macbeth does not complete the entire cycle of requirements. Although many readers believe that Macbeth exemplifies Aristotle's tragic hero, in reality he does not comply with this definition. He is not outstanding and virtuous, nor does he achieve insightful recognition or redemption.
In the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray written by Oscar Wilde readers are presented with a vast depiction of the art of immorality in the face of ignorant innocence portrayed by the character Dorian Gray. In the beginning it seems to be a quaint novel on artistry and the paradoxical relationship between two lifelong friends by the name of Basil Hallward and Lord Henry. The plot takes a surprising twist when introduced to the real center of attention, the character of the seemingly innocent Dorian Gray. Upon this introduction Wilde then begins to tell the tale of what a life of secrecy and deception will lead to without the consciousness of a moral threshold and the inescapable burden of Dorians horrid accumulation of sins. The deception begins with a simple shout out to the heavens for the impossible to be granted. This then flourishes into unspeakable acts caused by an Egyptian statue, bringing misfortune to Dorian Gray by giving him exactly what he so desperately desires, thus teaching the world a lesson. Not everything we so strongly desire the world to provide is good for the soul.
Dorian Gray seems to be two different people, at the exact same time. He is beautiful externally, but hideous internally. He is good-natured externally, and at the same time, ill-natured internally. Dorian appears to be perfect externally, but is extremely flawed internally. Dorian’s private ethics oppose the public morals of the traditional Victorian society in which he is a part of (Gillespie). He possesses a dual-nature through his struggle between his inner and outer selves. Dorian seems to exhibit a duality of innocence and sin at the same time. He is publically good and innocent. He maintains his good social standing for a time, by appearing to be the same, moral man he once was before he became friends with Lord Henry. However, at the same time, he
In conclusion, it has been reiterated that Lord Henry's influence, the changes in Dorian, and the immorality of the yellow book further enforced The Picture of Dorian Gray as a moral book. Oscar Wilde allows for those who could understand the real meaning of the novel by comprehending the importance of these three things to discern that he fully intended on writing this novel as a moral book.
In Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian Gray reads a yellow book given to him by mentor-friend, Sir Henry Wotton. In the years after reading the book, Dorian Gray transforms from the pure and innocent young man he was into a two-faced immoral man. The reason behind the Dorian's degradation is never explicitly mentioned in Wilde's novel, which begs the question of whether literature has the ability to degrade a person. The influence of literature has the potential to corrupt one’s mind, but whether it does is dependant on the state of the reader.
In analyzing Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, concepts such as influence and the origin of evil in Dorian Gray play an exceptionally valuable role in understanding the motives of the characters. Although some critics argue characters such as Lord Kelso significantly influence Dorian’s corruption, Lord Henry Wotton’s toxic personality undeniably impacts Dorian the most. Throughout the course of the novel, Lord Henry remains the ultimate source of evil and uses deception and persuasion to poison Dorian from a naïve boy to a destructive monster.