Cultural Relativity
Cultural Relativity refers to the
alternating ideals in a society regarding social, religious, and everyday
customs are often regarded as absurd or disrespectful in other cultures. These
customs can also reflect the time period they were exhibited in. A culture is
defined by a group of people who live the same way in the same group, often
working towards the same goal. To deny respect to other people’s beliefs is
often simply considered to be ignorant, as many factors must be taken into
account such as traditions, and that what is considered to be the ‘norm’ for
some is anything but ordinary for others.
The Cultural Relativity present in Hamlet
allows the readers to truly appreciate the time period that Shakespeare drew
from. The emphasis placed on the legacy and honor of being a noble human at
that time period as something worth dying for is rare in modern American
society. Parallels could be traced with the Aristocracy in present day England
without the treachery that surrounded the crown within the story of Hamlet.
Sabotage and revenge were also very strong themes in Hamlet that were
taken to an extreme form in the final act of the play. The idea of avenging murder
with poison and guaranteed death is certainly an extreme in today’s society,
and is difficult for modern readers to grasp as acceptable.
Many connections can be made in
different societies on their cultural norm, the most obvious being on religion.
Religion is often the basis of the greatest ignorance in humanity, as what
someone believes in is so rarely accommodated by what others believe in. When
one believes something is right based on what they have been taught, bad things
such as religious persecution can be the dangerous result. Slavery is another
example of cultural ignorance, by deeming some people as superior than others
based off of skin color, genocides and enslavement ensued.
My personal opinion on cultural
relativity is that it is not stressed enough to appreciate all walks of life
and respect others traditions in a moral and ethical manner. I find there would
be greater peace among nations if this understanding was something that was
engraved into us from the start. It is never too late however, in my opinion,
to appreciate other cultures and learn from them, after all knowledge is the
true source of power.
