Fancy Suit Syndrome

In many of the plays that we read, power seems to be the main theme. Family members kill each other in order to attain and defend their title, just because it is so valuable. Hamlets uncle, Claudius, murders his own brother in order to assume the throne. Laius, King of Thebes, "killed" his own son in order to steer away from the oracle which stated that his son would one day murder him. He did this not only to protect his own life, but his title as King as well. These individuals valued their titles, for they knew that with it came a certain aptitude. Not only did they have the obvious power over society, but they also had the automatic respect of all the people around them. People looked up to them, and believed that they possessed divine powers. In contemporary society, although we may not recognize it as first, titles too are extremely important to us. We live in a world in which an individual with a particular title holds a certain amount of power over the rest of us. The male who owns a BMW, a Rolex watch, and a fancy Armani suit is seen as superior to the rest of us. These materialistic things have come to define an individual. If you dress an ordinary blue collar individual in the same attire, give him the same car, and place him next to the successful individual who is now dressed in dirty jeans and a ripped T-shirt we would automatically assume that the person in the suit is the one with the degree and fancy job. We use these materialistic items to group people, and favor them, their power, their money, over any ordinary individual. What makes power so appealing to so many people? Sure, these individuals hold steady jobs, are smart, and maybe even posses a few other good characteristics, such as a sense of humor. But can we always assume that this individual will be better than the ordinary individual working at Starbucks? It's important for us to keep in mind that these materialistic items are just a visual aspect, and that we shouldn't judge an individual based on these items, because for all we know they may turn out to be not as great as initially assumed.