Good vs. Evil, Right vs.Wrong: How do we decide?

American Capitalism has made its way into my Shakespeare II classroom. In a heated discuss of what is considered right and wrong based on the actions of King Lear’s Goneril and Regan. Although you may be born into a certain lifestyle such as one of corruption, oppression, and/or taught that what society considers wrong is actually right is it OK to not be held accountable for your actions? Are you actions justifiable? Or can they just be explained? I argued that in the eyes of justice, it is in the eye of the beholder. Our societal biases have no right to be infringed upon other cultures, just as America will not allow the laws of Islam to dominate our government. What is right to one person may or may not be right to another person.

All Shakespearians, can agree that both Regan and Goneril were exceptionally cruel to there elderly father Lear, however when analyzing their evilness one must take into account their upbringing, the way in which their father treated them their entire lives, and the societal expectations of their environment during their time of existence. Although evil is evil, and good is good, whom is to say what I may think is good is also good to the next person? If society doesn’t agree that something is wrong then does that mean its not. Slavery existed for hundreds of years in America, because it was not evil according to society, but what about what the slaves thought? Individual morals play a major role in the consensus of a major society perception of what’s right and wrong. Of course in my opinion taking another life is unjustifiable except in extreme cases, however maybe if I was devote Christian taking a life may seem unthinkable no matter the circumstance. On United States money it says, “In God we Trust”, I am assuming a Christian or Catholic God, but even with America’s strong beliefs we still have the death penalty, discrimination based on race, age, and class; and a host of other non-biblical like traditions.

Nevertheless, in this world, which consists of millions of cultures and billions of people it is impossible to determine what is actually right and wrong in the eyes of your peers. Our laws, which are supposed to apply to the entire country, seem to only be strictly enforced when the offender is one of color. We can commit the same crime but if your black then capital, white probation? It’s OK for you to not be right, but not for me? If that’s not true then check out the ratio of prosecuted crimes in America compared to ratio of Black men in prison. In many cases even if the victim is of color and the perpetrator is not, the weight of the crime is still looked at with a color barrier. Lets face it our constitution, which is the doctrine for what is right and what is wrong is society is not made to include the diverse society in which we live.

Consciously, there are things that are certainly unacceptable in any society, however we as Americans cannot continue to conquer what is justifiably or non-justifiably acceptable to those who are not of our American customs; that is unless they are on American soil. Hell the American customs that we promote don’t even include all American’s, rather on many occasion they cater to the dominant race, which is has undeniable differences with the majority of American society.

With that said I am not commending Goneril or Regan’s actions father I am stating that although evil is evil, evil actions can be justified. The Devil is evil, although it is not good, we need to get away from the fact they he is evil as oppose to why he thinks its is OK to be evil, or what has compelled him to be evil, in a society in which evil is so heavily condemned. We must take collectively take responsibility for the “bad seeds” and try to attack to root of darkness before evil manifests in their actions. But how can we accomplish this when the people in power to determine what’s good and evil right or wrong, are evil themselves?