Hands And Taming Of The Shrew example essay topic

Tainted Perception In a world where crime happens every minute, people are killed daily, and adultery runs rampant, it is hard for society to gain an optimistic view of their world. In literary pieces such as Othello, The Scarlet Letter, and "Hands", and Taming of the Shrew, this pessimistic view placed in society is easy to see. Because society is often solely focused on only the evil of the world, they are more apt to overlook the inherent good of its people. In Shakespeare's Othello, overlooking the natural virtues of people and focusing only on the perceived misdeed, can lead to tragedy.

As part of evil Iago's sinister plan, Iago leads Othello to believe that his lovely wife, Desdemona, is cheating on him with his lieutenant, Casio. Overlooking Desdemona's inherent kindness and honesty, Othello's jealousy grows more and more. Othello states to Desdemona, "Heaven truly knows that thou are false as hell" (IV ii 39). This rising jealousy leads Othello to crime, killing his own wife, saying "Get me some poison, Iago; this night: I'll not expostulate with her, lest her body and beauty un provide my mind again: this night, Iago" (IV i 188-190). After killing Desdemona, her mistress, Emilia, convinces Othello of Desdemona's honesty. Guilt-stricken, Othello takes his own life saying, "I kiss'd thee ere I kill'd thee: no way but this; Killing myself, to die upon a kiss" (V ii 358-361).

Othello is a great example of how ignoring the natural goodness can ultimately lead to one's downfall. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, dishonesty in marriage also plays an important part through which the main character, Hester Prynne, is severely criticized by her society. Although formerly thought of as "youthful and fair" (Ch. 3), Hester becomes impregnated by a man she is not married to.

Her husband had been missing for a number of years, but yet the adulterous relationship was scorned. Although the man involved, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, never came forth to admit his sin, Hester is shunned by society for her sin. She is forced to stand on the scaffold for three hours, and is forced to wear an embroidered scarlet letter "A" on her chest to represent "Adultery". She is ostracized by her once accepting community, and even her daughter is left in a life of isolation. Because of the society's failure to note the repentant and virtuous life Hester lived, both Hester and her child were traumatically influenced by the judgments of their community. In "Hands" by Sherwood Anderson, a person's rare affectionate behavior is looked scornfully upon as gestures of ulterior motives.

Wing Biddlebaum has trouble controlling his nervous hands. His hands' "restless activity, like unto the beating of the wings of an imprisoned bird, had given him his name". As an effective teacher, through the "stroke of the shoulders and the touching of he hair" Adolph "Wing" Myers was enabled to share his dreams with his students, who therefore went to dream themselves. When these affectionate teaching tools were taken into consideration by the students' parents, it was seemingly obvious that Biddlebaum had ulterior motives, and was some sort of pedophile. Because of the society's lack of respect towards a man who was able to teach their kids in a rare way, Biddlebaum was believed to be a sick man, when in fact, all he was trying to accomplish was to share dreams and to help others to do the same. The society's lack of understanding Biddlebaum's intentions lead to an ultimate deterioration of a respectable man.

In Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, it is again seen how focusing only on the perceived wrong in people can lead to the blatant ignoring of the potential good. While Bianca is highly sought after by suitors, her father makes the rule that Bianca can only get married when her eldest sister, Kate, is married as well. Kate is seen by society as a disobedient shrew. Gre mio, trying to be persuaded by Hortensio to court Kate, speaks "Think est thou, Hortensio, though her father be very rich, any man is so very a fool to be married to hell!" It takes one brave soul, named Petruchio, who matches Kate in stubbornness and wit. His goal is to "tame" Kate, by neglecting her and treating her badly until she realizes that her hateful nature is one to be discarded. In the end, Kate surprises everyone by her profound sense of obedience to her husband.

In Petruchio's success at seeing past Kate's spiteful front, he turned her potential into a rewarding and obedient wife. Taming of the Shrew is a prime example of how looking for the inherent good in people reaps its benefits. Throughout all these famous literary works, Othello, The Scarlet Letter, "Hands", and Taming of the Shrew, it is obvious to see that although perception may render an intrinsic evil, often this evil screens society from seeing the inherent good that people possess. Society must be able to look past the sins and perceived misdeeds and rely on the inner sense of right that comes with all humanity.