The Corruption of Power
The narrative painting series entitled Marriage A-La-Mode by William Hogarth uses the setting of an aristocratic marriage in the eighteenth century to portray the corruption of high society. ...
Gaius Caligula’s jump from an average person to the emperor of Rome, possessing absolute power over everything, was what led to his predictable corruption. The incredible and sudden rise to power turned an average man into a monster capable of any atrocity he wished to commit. ... The unrivaled power carried only by Caligula turned him into a villain who was known to take pleasure in others’ pain and suffering. Caligula’s life was a chilling example of what a person corrupted by power was capable of and where that corruption could take him. ... Each character represents a figure from the political history of the Soviet, and various facets of the story also relate to aspects involved in the change of power during the early 1900s. The personification of the animals led to its misinterpretation as a fairytale, but in actually it shrewdly illustrates the hypocrisy of the communist movement
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and the naivety of Marx to believe that power would not corrupt those who were instated to keep the socialist ideals alive. ... The clash of coulours between the scarlet (associated with power in the language of colours) and the blue breeches, at a time when the fashion was for pastel shades, identifies the Alderman as the vulgarian of the series”(Crawley p. ... The men, full of vanity and pretenses, sign their children away in order to gain more power, either monetarily, or the power that comes with nobility. Their own corruption is then followed through in their children, their need for power leads to death and tragedy. ... This “stigma” is a manifestation of the bridegroom’s corruption, which goes on, not only to touch both his wife and her lover, but, to tarnish their innocent child. ...
The bride’s ‘stoney power,’ in reality lies in her femininity, which draws her lover to her and eventually leads to his death and her husband’s. ...
Caligula came to power due to the influence of others, which would then lead to his unrestricted rule over all things, and his turn for the worst. ... However, in spite of their friendship, Tiberius thought that Caligula would make a terrible emperor “Tiberius believed Caligula would be a
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corrupt and power hungry ruler”(Barrett p. ... Macro, a soldier of Tiberius’s played a large part in bringing Caligula to power after Tiberius’s death. ... However, Caligula’s claim to power was seen as a “consenesus, [meaning] that he was the choice of the Roman people and the senate (and the army)”(Barrett p. ... It was with the bestowing of power that changed and corrupted Caligula, “In the first six months of his reign, Caligula behaved with remarkable restraint and modesty. ...
At Caligula’s first meeting before the senate he was granted absolute power, “At this meeting the senate, in the words of Seutonius, granted to Caligula awesome authority, power and authority over all things. ... With such power, Caligula had the right to go against any laws he felt necessary, “. ... Clause VI which gives the princeps the right and power to do what he thinks to be to the advantage of the state, thus technically giving him the discretion to violate even existing laws. ... Caligula’s sudden accumulation of power drove him to seek more and more, “Seutonius claims that Caligula strove to transform the principate into a monarchy. But by handing over to him his new power the Senate had in fact done it for him, and when he would later boast that he had ‘every power over every person’, this was not the raving of a madman— he had good constitutional grounds for his notion that he was a princeps not bound by the laws. ... The absolute power left Caligula unchecked by any force, and gave him free reign to do whatever he desired. Such power led to historic extravagance and brutality.
The power given to Caligula allowed him to not only take advantage of the senate, but to use others as he saw fit. ... he offered to share power with them [the senate] and work towards commonly desired goals”(Barrett p. 34), but once his power was undeniable he did as he pleased. ... All of Caligula’s actions against nobility and the senators were an attempt to ensure his absolute power and make sure it was not threatened by anyone, “Certainly, by 39 Caligula’s general hostility towards the senate as an institution was undisguised, and this does manifest itself in his treatment of certain individual senators, particularly those from ancient and distinguished families, who presumably might have been seen to pose a threat, if not to his life, then to his status. ... Caligula’s legendary atrocities have been attributed to mental instability, but regardless, his actions would not have been possible if he had not had the immense power to do as he wished. ... 154), in an act of pure narcissism and corruption. ... Such a display of confidence only proves the extent to which Caligula was hungry for power.
The pigs in Animal Farm represent the corruption that occurs when one rule is overthrown for another. ... The farmhouse stands for the place in which greed and the hunger for power resides, “Unlike the barn, which is the fortress of the common man, the genuine concept of socialism, the farmhouse, where Napoleon and the pigs take over, symbolizes Kremlin”(Novel Guide p. ... It was this system that ignored the middle class and lower class, only to benefit those in power, “Orwell’s use of ribbons and sugar symbolizes the luxuries of life enjoyed by the old middle class under the old government. ... No longer is the power in the family; now the cornerstone of civilization is in the totalitarian government”(Novel Guide p. ... Jones lost power over the animals when he became drunk and lazy’ even Napoleon will eventually be overthrown because of the alcohol he intakes. ... The array of
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metaphors found throughout the novel all stood for different aspects of the communist government that eventually gave way to corruption or signaled the fact that the government deviated from the Marxist ideals which had founded it.
A telling example of the corruption that comes from the power of totalitarian communism is the way in which Napoleon and the other pigs ignored the common animal. After the deaths of those who confessed to having rebellious notions, Napoleon continued to tighten his grip on power, even over those that followed him blindly. ... “The pigs and dogs take most of the power for themselves, thinking that they are the best administrators of government. Eventually the power corrupts them, and they turn on their fellow animals, eliminating competitors through propaganda and bloodshed. ... Jones then became separated when Napoleon took power over them. His
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lack of concern for the common animal, who had made him what he was, is proof of his own corruption.
The use of the narrative painting’s detailed arrangement of both characters and elemental aspects actively told a story of the corruption brought about by the pursuit of power and its tragic ending. Throughout the series Hogarth’s portrayal of the characters not only proved the fathers’ intentions to be selfish and made without a great deal of consideration, but showed the evil of their own corruption in their children. ... Throughout the short-lived relationship, constant reminders of the Viscount’s own corruption kept reappearing, acknowledging his own promiscuity and over-indulgence. The couple, unfit for marriage, was both swept up in their fathers’ quest for power, and in it became corrupt as well.
Caligula’s lifetime was devoted to his own pursuits and his own attainment of more power and more glory. Instead of using the power and the titles bestowed upon him to benefit all of Rome, Caligula chose to use it towards his own perverse gratification. Once he tasted power and the ability that came with it, he wanted more and more, until the only way for him to gain it was to become a god. He abandoned those that gave him his power and used people to fulfill his needs. Caligula’s reign is a perfect example the corruption that can result from an ordinary man once he is given authority.
The novel Animal Farm integrated many aspects of Russian communism and effectually revealed its flaws and hypocrisies while illustrating how easily an individual’s power corrupts them and deviates the system from its original ideals. ... The vivid portrayal of Napoleon’s corruption, paralleled to Mr. Jones, makes the statement that once in power the revolutionary becomes just as tyrannical as his oppressor.
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