Role of Justice in the Merchant of Venice
Florence Lau
College Writing Block H
April 11th, 2013
Role of Justice in Count of Monte Cristo and the Merchant of Venice
The Role of Justice
Justice, as defined by the American Oxford Dictionary, is the quality of being fair and reasonable. The role of justice is to maintain peace and harmony in a society by making sure that virtuousness is outshining maliciousness. This role is often upheld by one of a higher authority who acts as a judge and gives an impartial analysis of a certain situation, then therein decides who is right and wrong, giving out rewards and penalties accordingly. In our society, we rely on magistrates to uphold the role of justice by charging those who have committed criminal offenses with the sentences they deserve. However at certain points in time, the role of justice can’t be only maintained by those in power and would require those who are seemingly less significant in society to step up and take their place to exhibit the role of justice as our authorities may be swayed by their own selfish desires, causing their judgment to be partisan. An example of this could be found in the famous book written by Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo.
At the beginning of the book, Edmond Dantès, a naïve young man, was accused of treason by preparing to deliver a note from Napolean to a Bonapartist. He was brought to the chief magistrate of the region, Gérard de Villefort, for questioning. After the questioning, the chief magistrate realized how oblivious Edmond is towards the note and offered to allow Edmond to go freely. However, Edmond unwittingly revealed the name of the Bonapartist he was supposed to deliver the note to as Villefort’s father and was sent to Château d’If by Villefort in fear that Edmond would reveal this information to another and affect his career. Thus, Edmond spent 14 years of his life suffering in the Château d’If without the role of justice being fulfilled. Therefore after Edmond escaped, he stepped up and took
College Writing Block H
April 11th, 2013
Role of Justice in Count of Monte Cristo and the Merchant of Venice
The Role of Justice
Justice, as defined by the American Oxford Dictionary, is the quality of being fair and reasonable. The role of justice is to maintain peace and harmony in a society by making sure that virtuousness is outshining maliciousness. This role is often upheld by one of a higher authority who acts as a judge and gives an impartial analysis of a certain situation, then therein decides who is right and wrong, giving out rewards and penalties accordingly. In our society, we rely on magistrates to uphold the role of justice by charging those who have committed criminal offenses with the sentences they deserve. However at certain points in time, the role of justice can’t be only maintained by those in power and would require those who are seemingly less significant in society to step up and take their place to exhibit the role of justice as our authorities may be swayed by their own selfish desires, causing their judgment to be partisan. An example of this could be found in the famous book written by Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo.
At the beginning of the book, Edmond Dantès, a naïve young man, was accused of treason by preparing to deliver a note from Napolean to a Bonapartist. He was brought to the chief magistrate of the region, Gérard de Villefort, for questioning. After the questioning, the chief magistrate realized how oblivious Edmond is towards the note and offered to allow Edmond to go freely. However, Edmond unwittingly revealed the name of the Bonapartist he was supposed to deliver the note to as Villefort’s father and was sent to Château d’If by Villefort in fear that Edmond would reveal this information to another and affect his career. Thus, Edmond spent 14 years of his life suffering in the Château d’If without the role of justice being fulfilled. Therefore after Edmond escaped, he stepped up and took