From this, things the reader thinks he or she knows are once again made extraordinary and force them to rethink what is real and true. ... This is due to the fact that Allende believes progress, moreover peoples' idea of it and how they see it, is corrupt. ...
The reasoning behind this view of the state is the assumption that political authority in any shape or form is completely corrupting. ... Another theorist, Stirner, suggests the state rips people of their natural egoism and as a result, the state is believed by some to control the behavior of individuals and force them into unnatural social relations. ...
One of the most obvious elements of society that Laclos criticises is the perceived validity of their education and its emphasis on shielding the girls that enter the convent, proving that ironically, it is this that renders the graduates most susceptible to the corrupting forces of any Don Juan who might take their fancy. ... Whilst the modern day reader finds himself startled by the sheer despicability of Valmont's contribution to corrupting the ladies, in our 21st century enlightened state, equality of women makes it hard to accept such manipulation. ... Although a pivotal force in the...
In contrast with his father, Edmond believes that nature is a malign force that acts as a powerful motivator, and is concerned only with his own advancement and profit: "When we are sick in fortune. ... As Shakespeare and the Elizabethans saw it, by these women corrupting the structure of power and the natural order of society's function, they deserved to be punished with death. ...
Once realized, this brand of political association would be one which "will defend and protect with the whole common force the person and goods of each associate, and in which each, while uniting himself with all, may still obey himself alone, and remain as free as before". ...
