Make-up Jonathan Wilde Week 13

The most obvious aspect of Fielding’s Jonathan Wilde is his critique on the way that greatness is viewed. The example of Alexander the Great is used multiple times as an example of true greatness because he took what he wanted with little to no regard of the people he was taking it from. This “greatness” can also be viewed as a commentary on the corrupt nature of the high standing member of the mid 1700’s British society. Greatness is a concept viewed by Wilde to be something that a man at any level of class could achieve because you do not have to be born into it, you can take it for yourself. On one hand I appreciate the capitalistic approach to advancing yourself in life, this seems very American, but the manner in which this is being done speaks more to corruptness than economic savvy. Taking Swifts idea of considering multiple perspectives, I want to take a look at the alternative to greatness. In high-class society, there is not much to consider, not being great would simply look like wealthy people not taking advantage of other and living on their own money. However, the average or not great lower class would come across to me as lazy individuals who are not smart enough to fight the system. In this hypothetical world of Henry Fielding it seems that the only way for the lower class to fight against what is taking advantage of them is to grab whatever you can at any cost. This might make them morally questionable in our modern eyes, but you cannot fault the Greatness of Wilde when considering what other options he might have. So, yes the “greatness” in Jonathan Wilde is a shaming critique on the upper class, but ignoring that fact, Wilde might actually be great for not allowing the system to just roll him over.