Ambition is a double-edged sword. You prize the fierce determination needed to complete a daunting task, but you are also wary of the greed and arrogance that can come with ambition. Ambition itself is neither a good nor a bad trait, but it is human. Over time, the word “ambition” has taken on a much more negative connotation as in recent history, greedy imperialists, corrupt elites, and materialistic capitalists have used their ambition to fuel their desire for honor, popularity, and power at the expense of the world. . well-being of others. It is perhaps because of these human qualities – desiring love, honor, knowledge and power – and the similarities to modern society that the theme of ambition is prevalent in literature. Personal narratives such as On Seeing England for the First Time, plays such as Pygmalion and Rushdie's Ruby Slipper in East, West highlight the consequences of an ambition gone awry. Greed, which makes characters unaware of human compassion and humility, results in destructive actions and consequences on a personal and global level. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Colonial British literature reflects the broad and pervasive impact of imperialistic greed on British culture. Through ideals such as the “white man's burden” and proud exclamations that “the sun never sets on the British Empire”. On the other hand, the literature of subjugated cultures, such as Jamaica Kincaid's On Seeing England for the First Time, attempts to show narrow-minded audiences the horror of the imperialist machine as it seizes their economic, territorial, and cultural resources. identity. The British superiority over the natives forced Kincaid to think that she “was incomplete, or without substance, and not up to par” (Kincaid 374) because she was not English. In doing so, it unwittingly played into imperialist ideology, designed to designate the colonized as “others” and thus ignore the reality of the colonized culture and people. Colonists saw Antigua, Kincaid's hometown, only as economically profitable and as a way to obtain resources that were not available in Europe. Kincaid angrily describes the greed that blinded them to the hegemony and domination they instilled in his community. The English instituted restrictions that prevented native economies from operating on their own; the natives would produce the raw material for British manufacturing, but their competition with British trade was eliminated as the natives were forced to purchase only British goods. Kincaid's daily tin of cocoa, box of oats, shoes, socks and undergarments, the family car and even her satin ribbons were made in England. His father accepts Western styles of dress and behavior after being forced to "wear the wrong hat for the hot climate for much of his long life" (Kincaid 366) to appear more English. The brown felt hat, which symbolizes complete British domination of Antigua's economy and culture, becomes so associated with his father's character that it becomes the first thing he puts on and the last thing he takes off. This brainwashing reinforced in her personal life and education, in which she is told to draw a map of England on every test, creates an outsider complex in which Kincaid is forced to idolize English culture but never participate in it : “England is a special country.” jewel, gowell, and only special people can wear it” (Kincaid 365). Its cultural identity and value are recklessly replaced in colonization. Everything in her life, including herself, is "Made in England" (Kincaid 365), with "the exceptions being the sea, the sky, and the air we breathe" (Kincaid 366). Western greed for raw materials and the ambition to industrialize their countries have imposed culture and identity on the colonies, destroying the "reality" of the world.place and replacing it with an idea. Similarly, colonial ideology is believed to impact class relations, where the lower classes are internal foreigners, colonized by the upper classes, employing strategies of imperial and colonial control. By exploring the class, gender, and racial politics that influence social conventions in Pygmalion, Shaw reveals the complexity of how ambition and power are closely tied to selfishness and material reward. Because he is upper class, wealthy, and male, Higgins displays inherent power in class status, money, and gender, which gives his ambition to "make [Eliza] a duchess of this cowardly drifter" (Shaw 16) a greedy and cold. edge. It is a power he surrenders to without conscience, putting Eliza in a position unfit for any role in their society. As he corrects her accent and grammar, dresses her in beautiful clothes, and teaches her modern conversational behaviors, he becomes almost obsessed with the idea of ​​creating the perfect human being: "how terribly interesting it is to take a human being and turn him into a completely different being." human being… He is bridging the deepest gulf that separates class from class and soul from soul” (Shaw 43). Higgins' goal is no longer to win a bet, train Eliza, or even test his own skill and intelligence. He believes he can bring humanity together, one person at a time, and in his ambition to achieve social status and be a respectable man, Higgins despises the power game he created and abused to deprive Eliza of her independence and identity . Eliza herself is not without ambition, as she approaches Higgins to follow up on his offer to improve her standing in society. However, Higgins' training gives Eliza the power she needed to support herself, adapt, and find independence without Higgins' help. “I don't want gold or diamonds” (Shaw 19) Eliza declares, demonstrating how her ambition to maintain her dignity and build a better life gives her the strength to reject Higgins and firmly carve out a place for herself in society. new corners of society that he can now explore. Eliza's father, on the other hand, whose desire to be indolent forces him to be just the opposite, serves as an obstacle to Eliza. A man satisfied with poverty and life as a street cleaner, Alfred Doolittle extorts only enough money for wild drunkenness, refusing more when it is offered because he does not want to be tempted to save and thus trap himself in middle-class responsibilities. Higgins sends a joke letter to a millionaire, who subsequently gives Doolittle a salary to lecture on the morality he detests. Doolittle feels obligated to accept the payment and his life is no longer poor, but it is also not as free and simple as it once was. Forced to become bourgeois, he must now embrace the restrictive morality of the middle class and marry his wife. Alfred Doolittle's ironic ambition to be unambitious binds him to social structures and conventions of how to behave, stripping him of his very beliefs and identity. Eliza is able to reshape her identity despite being left rather penniless while her.