Measure for Measure is one of Shakespeare’s dramas that were
written during the time; the royals were interpreting the law from a literal
sense and troubling the lives of the people (1604). Royal was forcing people to
live the law yet the authority itself was linked with the criminal world.
England during that time went into fragmentation of the society (class system).
Aristocracy was isolated from the ordinary citizens: Young Novice Isabella in the drama represents
the people of England who were forced into doing things involuntarily. The authority never realized that the people
had dignity too and they deserved respect from the government.
The drama “measure for measure” depicted corruption in the
government in the form of fornication and sex. The underlying theme of the
drama is the issue of injustice.
The paragraph which I would like to analyze and compare to
Papua New Guinea’s situation today, economically, socially and politically
reads and I quote
“Of the government
the properties to unfold
Would seem in me t’
affect speech and discourse,
Since I am put to
know that your own science
Exceeds, in that,
the list of all advice
My strength can
give you
Economically, the government of the day is saying that we
are doing mining and all the economical developments for the people to reap the
benefits in full. But is it true that
the people are reaping the benefits?
Ramu Nickel Mining in Madang province was created by the government of
PNG with the Chinese government and has never benefited the people of Ramu.
Rather it is costing the heath of the indigenous people by the gromium which is
dumped out in quantity by the company (http://ramumine.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/mcc-spillover-at-ramu-mine-site/).
PNG cannot create wealth without
strategizing on how the wealth will be distributed fairly. Already Papua New
Guinea has fallen into using the Rostow Linear Model whereby the poor resource owners
will have to supply the resources they have to the rich at a very cheap price.
The rich will than sell it to the poor at the high price hardly afforded by the
poor. If the economy of the country is okay, then upon what grounds is PNG
continuously borrowing money for the foreigners? At the ended of the day the gap between the
rich and the poor is widening.
Capitalism boldly demonstrated in the drama is present in PNG to. The
government leaders are the ones who have a lot of money compare to the ordinary
citizens. Most of the benefits of the mining are paid to the bureaucrats; not
the people.
Papua New Guinea is constitutionally an independent
state. It was declared independent on the 16th of September 1975.
Now the question to ask is “Isn’t PNG over doing the political aspect of its
government when suppressing its citizens?”
Politically the interpretation of the law is not done in a way to discipline
the leaders or the situation, rather to protect the white collar criminals.
They are the government leaders of course. Laws of the country should not be
interpreted from a literal sense rather in a way to address the situational
challenge. Politically Papua New Guinea is independent, yet we have the politicians
who have got terrible attitude problems thus that is making us rely on foreigners
for political advice. They give a lot of
advices but their actions hardly reconciles with what they preach to the
people. Politics according to Papua New Guineans is something that is
regionalized. The reason as to why that political practice is strong will be
explained in detailed in the social aspect of the write-up.
Socially, Papua New Guinea is a country that has people
with over 870 languages. Language is a
very important part of culture. As Pearson
(1986) positioned
“our perception of the world is closely linked to our
language and language serves to shape the way we perceive reality”
In the cause of Shakespeare’s drama he mentions about the
suppression of people of urban society of England who speak the same language I
suppose. If you look carefully into the context of Papua New Guinea, That is
not the case. I am confident that suppression by the people to its citizens is
even worse; because Nepotism is very strong in PNG. How can a Prime Minister
from a different region treat the people of another region with respect if social
negligence is said to be an issue in England during Elizabethan era?
Obviously, social exclusion is an issue in our country
and even in the families too.
References:
·
Alexander .P (1951) Shakespeare play: measure for
measure , William Collins Sons and Company limited: England
·
Matbob. L (2007) The Negative form of
Socialization , Divine Word University: Madang
·
http://ramumine.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/mcc-spillover-at-ramu-mine-site/
(Retrieved: 9.28am Date 22/07/2013)
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