Evil Within the 21st Century
Good morning/ afternoon everyone, Professor Kim, and I greatly appreciate you inviting me to give a lecture about the evil within the 21st century. I’ll begin by firstly asking you, do you think that evil today was the same as a few centuries ago? And do you believe that the evilness within us has now taken over society today as a whole, resulting in murder and terrorism? ... Since the beginning of mankind, evil has been the tiny seed within mankind. From then on then, evil has slowly emerged into society and has contributed to the development of today’s society, making it a hot topic in everyday conversation. Evil in the Elizabethan age was viewed differently and strictly than how evil would have been viewed in the 1960’s and nowadays. People today like myself see evil as a wicked deed or mentality, yet Macquarie dictionary defines evil as ‘breaking the moral laws’. There are different types of evil ranging from rebellion and revenge to drinking and betrayal. However, I will focus on violence and betrayal to allow you to see how evil within people has evolved to shape society today. During the Elizabethan era, society adhered to strict laws set out by the government that managed to keep the majority of people civilised whilst some violated the laws by their evil actions, which corrupted society. Shakespeare used the evil situations during his time and transformed them into plays, one being Othello. ... Shakespeare using Iago and Othello, reveals to us two different interpretations of evil within a person and portrayed the evil within people during the Elizabethan period. Since everyone has the seed of evil within them, Iago represents those who disguise it and appear before others as innocent and faithful, revealing their evilness to close companions and Othello represents those who have the seed of evil within them and is exposed when something triggers it, in this case, Desdemona’s infidelity caused the violent actions of Othello.