German nobility

defends Ajax’s honor by demanding he receive an honorable burial. The final stasimon of Sophocles’ tragic play Ajax revolves around the question of Ajax’s integrity and what it means to be honorable. While Agamemnon relies on societal definitions of nobility and alliance to denounce Ajax’s honor, Odysseus stands up for his new enemy claiming that his actions have earned him honor despite his treachery. Because of the mercurial nature of culturally ascribed understanding of honor, Sophocles…

Twelfth Night is a story that is written by William Shakespeare. Love is a major topic in the Twelfth Night because many major characters in the story fall in love with each other. In the story, the nature of love does not follow the guidelines of social class. Even though love does not follow these guidelines, the characters in the story still realize what social class they are associated in and it sometimes stops them from seeking out certain characters. There are a few love connections that…

Throughout Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, it does not take long to notice that a certain code of conduct, or code of ethics, is very prevalent throughout the poem. The poem includes several key aspects of medieval life, especially how following the code of chivalry is a requirement for knights. The knightly code of chivalry explains the bravery of Sir Gawain that is portrayed throughout the poem. During the story, Gawain’s chivalry is continuously tested, but it is not just Gawain’s chivalry…

The memoirs of two Renaissance men: Buoanccorso Pitti and Gregorio Dati. Highlight some of the lifestyles of the time. Pitti was clearly the wealthier and political of the two, being involved in wars, diplomacy, and politics. Pitti took his business as more of a side job to his political involvements in France. Compared to his counterpart in the book, Pitti travels considerably more, spending more time outside of Florence as he travels to meet emperors, kings, and nobles. Pitti’s memoirs also…

Throughout A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens portrays the effects of poverty and injustice on the French society. He shows how ordinary men and women were driven by their suffering to anger and become murderers of the aristocracy. The injustice Dickens shows results in extreme anger that led to an inevitable war between the rich and poor. Social injustice in the novel is represented through the character of the Marquis Evermonde . He shows the injustice of the ruling class of aristocrats towards the…

Greek polis so I also refute his concept of lead by nobility example. The issue that I have with the junzi or aristocracy leading by example is that it pervades a form of elitism. An unqualified elitism I might add because it has been my experience often where the layman has demonstrated more dedication to ru and de then the noble. Now I do not challenge all nobility of being void in virtue but only take umbrage to the blanket leadership of the nobility simply just because the virtue is assumed…

Perhaps the most significant concept in feudal Europe was Knighthood, as it formed the very basis of the government. They trained from a young age to be the best leaders and fighters they could be, so that they could one day rule over as much land and laborers, called serfs, as the lords that they served. This is a great example of a cultural social science perspective. The shared goal of every knight was to be the most powerful knight in all of feudal Europe, ruling more land and serfs than any…

Iago. Various scholars of the play have attempted to explain Othello’s character and how such a high-status, noble man could have so easily descended into a simple vengeous murderer. Many theorize that behind Othello’s fragile facade of pride and nobility is a deep-rooted insecurity and naivety that leads him to be suspicious, and later, violent. Othello’s wavering sense of personal identity and…

The military aristocracy, also more commonly known as the knights in the medieval times were of great importance in the feudalism system as they were the link between the wealthy and the poverty. The military also played one of the main roles in protecting the King and the subjects of the King. The knights were known for their code of honor, chivalry and were loyal to people, even to their enemy knights as they still belonged to the same group of people. Only the son of a noble could become a…

Centralised feudalism presented a social, political and economic system based on personal loyalties, class distinctions and the granting of land rights. The social class system displayed a clear social hierarchy of wealth and power through to poverty and exploitation of people. Wealth creates power and wealth is created by land ownership in exchange for service or labour. Feudalism in Japan rose following the Heian period (between 782 and 1185CE) when the stable imperial government weakened and…