Wednesday, January 26, 2011

$$$$

Does money make the world go round? To the romantic, it would be the most repulsive idea, but realistically, it kind of does. As exemplified in Jane Eyre, and even in today's society, personal material wealth is part of what defines a person at first glance, no matter how much one denies it. A harsher reality met Jane during the Victorian period of her novel, where she, as both a woman and a low-class orphan, is oppressed and meets little equality from her peers. Her intellect and academic proficiency is overshadowed by the fact that she is penniless and without parents, and is scorned by her foster family. This carries on through her adulthood and even in her love life, where she must carefully seek a balance of financial and statutory  independence, and romantic love from her would-be husband. Going back to modern times, even though the stigma is somewhat removed, there is still an unspoken stereotype of rich vs. poor.
Personally, I don't think money is evil. It's good, just as the saying goes "Greed is good." It is how we choose to utilize money and greed that gives them their respective value judgments.

-Lian C.