Cue for Treason: Question V (REVISED)

Question Number V:


5. Students often have difficulty relating to Shakespeare or other writers from the past. However, they do not have as much trouble relating to characters that are set in the past, as in historical fiction. Choose one of the main characters, Peter, Kit, Sir Philip or another, and persuade the audience that as characters we can still relate to them today. You may want to start with their characteristics and then think of present day examples that are similar.

      Sir Philip is the landlord in Cumberland from the book "Cue for Treason". He was that person that had everything, but also wanted everything, which means he was very rich. He inherited estate from his grandfather. He also owned lots of land, and lived in a large mansion, as he was part of the noble class. Even though he had much more than he needed, he still wanted more. He charged people living on his land much more than what they usually payed, trying to make more money. He built a wall around the citizens' land without consulting them first, claiming that it was all his. He even planned to assassinate the Queen, so that he could obtain more power.

     Sir Philip is a greedy, shallow, and selfish person. He abused his power by taking people's land forcefully and raising the rent rates, just for more money. Even though we see him as the very bad, mean antagonist, we aren't that different from him. It isn't ALL of Sir Philip's fault for being greedy. It's in our nature. As humans, we are all greedy. Some are just better at not showing it. We keep wanting more, even when we have what we need. As a Canadian citizen, living in Canada is a very fortunate privilege. I have all I need! No, I have more than I need! But I still complain and always want more and more things. I am a greedy person, just like Sir Philip Morton.

Kronos, or Cronus (from Ancient Greek Myths), was the leader and the youngest of the first generation of Titans, descendant of Gaia and Uranus. He, in my opinion, relates to Sir Philip Morton. Kronos envied Uranus' power, as Uranus was the ruler of the universe. From this envy, greed took over Kronos. He [Kronos] got a great stone sickle, and cut Uranus into a thousand pieces, so that Kronos could rule the universe.

   A present day example in this world that relates to Sir Philip Morton would be the warlords in Somalia. As Somalia is in a devastating famine, international aid is mandatory. But all humanitarian aid sent to Somalia is either rejected, taken, or stolen by the warlords, our of their greed, and not thinking about all the dying Somalians.

    Even if it seems like Sir Phillip is not like us, or related to us in anyway, in the end, we can relate to him in many ways.