October 2015
Mary Thomas
12 Ap English/Burnett
Worth
Every day millions of people are prematurely judged based on their appearance, social status, and numerous other reasons. The famous quote "Don't judge a book by its cover" has been taught to each of us since birth but has yet to make an impact on our actions and thoughts. Within Beowulf and The Importance of Being Earnest the theme of judging others is continuously apparent. In Beowulf, the characters are all referred to as the "son of" or the descendant of some ancestors. This is significant because they are judged based on what family they come from and what social status they hold, if they have money or are known for their great deeds they are treated with much more respect than if they are not. In The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Bracknell bases the entire idea of marriage on the wealth and social status of characters. If they are not wealthy and appear to be unsuccessful and unimportant in the world, she feels they have no worth and are not worthy of marriage. For example, Lady Bracknell questions Ernest when he wants to marry Gwendolen but none of her questions relate to who he is as a person or have any substance at all. They are simply questions about his family name and what he does with his life.
Sadly, after so many years this judging is still happening in society today. Now we base off of physical appearance in order to determine whether they are successful, wealthy, or worthy. If someone has tattoos and non-designer brand clothes there are many people who immediately shun them and refuse to accept them into their lives. They have taken no time to get to know them or to find out what their personalities are like but instead decide based on what they wear or how they do their hair that they must not be a valuable person.
The judgmental ways of our society are sickening to me. It is unnerving to see so many people be judged not based on who they are on the inside but who or what they are on the outside. People such as Lady Bracknell have no grasp on the value of individuals and I hope that one day our society is able to take that more seriously.
