impacts of lust and power in people’s lives
Almost every human is, in one way, greedy as he or she wants more. Majority of people believe that by getting more and more, one becomes better. From a logical point of view, this deluded idea, which has penetrated people sub-conscious, denying the actual reality. As a result, they are driven by evil, and they don’t at all believe they have more or enough. This is a classical denial, and the more they acquire, the more they desire, and more in denial they become. Power and lust are some of the leading causes that might have corrupted such people and lead them into such evils. Since time immemorial, the majority of human injustices and abusive nature can be traced back to human greedy to acquire power and lust that causes them to undermine the principle of acting well. The two stories, The Hamlet and Canterbury Tales, clearly portray to us how human beings can involve themselves in power struggle through the temptations of lustful minds. From the two stories, power and lust have been brought out to unpleasant outcomes for the people who have decided to misuse them. Let’s see the impacts of lust and power in people’s lives from the two narratives.
The theme power is a strong theme that has clearly been expressed in The Canterbury Tales and Hamlet narratives. Theme of power in Hamlet is revealed in the form of political power. From the start, the play unfolds amid a political intrigue both within and outside the court. The most potent figure who dominates Elsinore court is Claudius. Claudius is a diplomatic, cool-headed, and intelligent character that gets what he wants. He acquires all that he wants after the strategic death of his brother. The death of his brother leads to heated debate, but at the end of the day, Claudius emerges the winner simply by not rushing into the battle but by sending some of his ambassadors who negotiated successfully on his behalf.
In The Canterbury Tales, the theme of power has been expressed through the use of misuse of power in The Friar’s tale. The summoner who is working for the cruel archdeacon is abusing his power by extorting and oppressing people. Through this, his abuse of power does not last for long. This tale is a good lesson that those who abuse power nothing good comes to them, but instead, they always perish.
The second theme that is common in both stories is the theme of lust. Hamlet’s story indicates the most vivid, dramatic picture of human desires. A desire for love is a theme that has been expressed all over the plot. This theme of love has been portrayed through the use of the interplay between the character Ophelia, Gertrude, and Hamlet. All these characters are identified to have lust in love. In The Canterbury Tales, the theme of lust has been brought out by the physician tales where the judge is lusting for the daughter of Virginias. The physician wants to get the girl by himself, but his attempt does not work. Later he arrested and taken to prison before he kills himself.
The theme of power is active themes that have been clearly expressed in Hamlet and The Canterbury Tales. We should not allow our desire to drive us as, in most scenarios, it ends up ruining our lives. The pursuit of power in both tales has resulted in negative impacts, both ending in a tragedy. Lust has made some characters to make some wrong life decisions, and eventually, what follows is hardship and loss of life. Hamlet and The Canterbury Tales provide us with great lessons that we should not at all allow our human desires to drive us.