Beata Szymańska

ETHICAL ASPECTS OF THE TERMS 'SUCCESS' AND 'CAREER' IN LITERARY TEXTS

Summary

    The article is an attempt to examine the scope of moral evaluations attached to the terms 'career' and 'success' in a number of literary texts ranging from the Old Testament to contemporary literature. A contextual analysis of the meaning of the two terms reveals a number of distinctive features like, for example, durability (unlike 'career', 'success' can be a one-off thing and need not last) and a social dimension ('career' always implies the presence of a social structure with unequal positions).
    The great diversity in the presentation of careers of literary characters is matched by a shift in the general understanding the key terms. That only few people manage to climb the heights of career and success is subject to evaluations which range between two extremes: it is seen either as a proof of cosmic injustice or as a reward for moral virtue. On the whole, however, career and success are portrayed critically in literature. It is as if writers and poets continually wanted to draw our attention to the fact that no one can make a career or achieve success unless he is ruthless and cruel, lies, and, in general, acts in ways which are morally opprobrious.