Review the old woman's arguments concerning gentility and gentleness, wealth and poverty. Select one point in her argument and explain why it is or is not relevant to our present social situation.
Alison
10/22/2014 12:56:16 pm
The wife suggests that "Gentility must come from God alone [and] that we are gentle comes to us by grace and by no means is it bequeathed with place" (lines 338-340). I think it's relevant to our present social situation. Some overnight millionaires may dress genteelly, but their manner may not be true gentleness. The true gentleness cannot be bought with money or inherited from known ancestors. This truth is relevant to the society no matter what the time is.
I agree completely with what Alison is saying here. Kindness and other genuine qualities reflective of one's good nature cannot be bought by material wealth. Quite on the contrary, our society now is showing a trend of selfish rich people working many poor workers to death and completely neglecting their suffering. Surely, these men in wealth are not showing gentleness as it is "supposedly" measured by the amount of material wealth they accumulate.
nikha
10/26/2014 12:48:56 am
Your argument reminds me of the first test I had in Global Citizenship. Mr. Daniels told us to define a cartoon with helpless people crashed under a Nike shoe. As it turned out, the cartoon was being ironic about Nike's horrible treatment towards its workers. Does the C.E.O of Nike deserves respect because he makes 6 digit salary? Of course not.
Andy Zhou
10/25/2014 12:25:45 pm
The old women argues as poverty as not always a bad thing. People can be happy even in poverty. She also mentions that real poverty only exists when a person expects or wants to be wealthy, while real wealth is only when a person is happy with what they have. This teaches us that we don't all have to be rich to have a happy life.
Alicia H.
10/25/2014 06:12:53 pm
People often associate wealth with happiness today as if happiness can be bought. Wealth can bring people materialistic satisfaction, however, this fulfillment should not be equated with one's degree of content. I agree with the old women's sayings because it is true that there're millions of people in the world who are happier with less than what we have.
Andre Tan Mulligan
10/26/2014 12:12:42 am
I don't seem to see how you're relating her arguments to our current situation so here goes. The mentality now is money leads to success, and success leads to happiness. The old woman argues quite the opposite, and says that wealth is not measured in money or success, but in happiness. Which I quite agree with and should be the way we measure wealth. However, happiness cannot be measured by just looking at someone's cover, while money and success can be.
Alicia H.
10/25/2014 07:01:47 pm
I disagree with the old woman’s statement that poverty is “a great help to our capacity for wisdom” (194 lines 373-374). Although I do agree with the concept that happiness cannot be bought and being satisfied with what you own can be real riches, it is evident in contemporary society that wealth is capable of buying one majority desirable goods available, such as quality education. The probably that the cure to cancer or the finding of a groundbreaking discovery lies in the mind of one who cannot afford sufficient education or exposure is often debated. This controversy, in my belief, should not be given much attention because the the rest of the world is not responsible and cannot afford to give free education to millions outside their boarders. Every civilization was built off nothing, developing countries can give those in need help but should not hand them everything needed. Wealth can buy education and thus buy wisdom and prosperity; this fact has been verified through present-day society, safety nets, and oversea education assisting programs.
Jiny Kim
10/25/2014 11:05:52 pm
The old woman claims that gentleness "is not annexed in nature to possessions" (line 324) and argues that gentility comes from one's actions. If one has "vice and bad manners" (line 334), they are not considered gentleman although they are wealthy and noble. It is relevant to our present social situation, because we normally regard gentleness as manners, gestures, or code of conduct. We don't consider wealth of nobleness as the standard of gentility.
Sunny
10/25/2014 11:24:04 pm
The old woman argues that poor people are happy since thieves would not be able to steal anyting from them, and they would not lose anything. I personally do not agree that this argument works in our current society, because many people in Africa are poor. Even though they are poor, their land is full of rich natural resources, and people from other parts of the world would steal their resources such as diamonds and gold. Most of the profit goes to other people, not Africans.
Brian Lin
10/26/2014 12:34:47 am
I agree that the old woman's argument does not work in current society. In today's society, there is too much emphasis on wealth, and the poor usually live a life that is much more depressing than the rich. Though poor people wont lose much of their possessions, this isn't necessarily something that would make them happy.To me, poor people will struggle much more and have not as happy a life as the rich
nikha
10/26/2014 12:39:44 am
The old woman in the Wife of Bath's Tale illustrates that "poverty is good" because it is "a great help ... for wisdom" to prove that her financial status, the physical substance, would not demolish the marriage. (195 lines 371-374). Nowadays, we do advocate this same ideal, but it is an ideal nonetheless. The wealthy has more advantages compared to the struggling. The rich can afford better education, healthier food, and better lifestyles.
Brian Lin
10/26/2014 12:45:41 am
In lines 377-380, the wife says that "poverty often, when the heart is lowly, brings one to god and teaches what is holy, gives knowledge of oneself and even lends a glass by which to see one's truest friends." She argues that poverty can bring one close to god, and allows us to see what really matters and who are closest friends are. I think that this resembles very much of the current society. Today, many people are consumed by wealth and materialistic possessions to a point where they lose their focus on what really matters. Greed and selfishness arise from wealth, and being poor can really allow people to truly appreciate their lives and see the people that they love.
Stephen
10/26/2014 01:45:01 am
The old woman pointed out that people who lack of money tend to be happier than wealthy people. However, in real life poor people have lower chance to be happy. Although I agree that money cannot buy happiness, basic necessities that human needs are bought with money. Buy using money people could satisfy themselves and be happy. On the contrary, poor people who really does not have money may not be able to effort any necessities in present days.
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