The Baron & The Baroness

Spent today having my students discuss a moral dilemma scenario. First, they had to read this story:

As he left for a visit to his outlying districts, the jealous Baron warned his beautiful wife, "Do not leave the castle while I am gone or I will punish you severely when I return." But as the hours passed, the young Baroness grew lonely and, despite her husband's warning, decided to visit her lover who lived in the countryside nearby. The castle was located on an island in a wide, dangerous river, with a drawbridge linking the island and the land at the narrowest point in the river. "Surely my husband will not return before dawn," she thought, and ordered her servants to lower the drawbridge and leave it down until she returned.

After spending several pleasant hours with her lover, the Baroness returned to the drawbridge, only to find it blocked by a soldier who worked for her husband. "Do not attempt to cross this bridge, Baroness. The Baron suspected that you would disobey him, and he has ordered me to kill you if you attempt to sneak back into the castle," the servant said. The Baroness begged and pleaded with the soldier, but he would not budge. "Baroness, if I disobey the Baron, I will lose my job. I do not want to kill you, but there is nothing I can do. If you attempt to cross the bridge, I must kill you," he said. Fearing for her life, the Baroness returned to her lover and asked him for help. "Our relationship is only a romantic one," he said. "I will not help you."

The Baroness then sought out a boatman on the river, explained her plight to him, and asked him to take her across the river in his boat. "I will do it," the boatman said, "but only if you can pay my fee of ten gold coins." "But I have no money with me!" the Baroness protested. "That’s too bad. No money, no ride," the boatman said flatly and rowed away. Her fear growing, the Baroness ran weeping to the home of a friend and, after explaining the situation, begged for ten gold coins. "If you had not disobeyed your husband, this would not have happened. Let this be a lesson to you. I will not give you the money," the friend said. With dawn approaching and her last hope exhausted, the Baroness returned to the drawbridge in desperation, attempted to cross to the castle, and was killed by the soldier.

The students were then asked to rank the characters (Baron, Baroness, Lover, Soldier, Boatman, and Friend) based on their morally responsibility for the Baroness' death. An overwhelming majority of each class said that the Baroness was responsible for her own demise because she not only disobeyed her husband, but also committed adultery. Least responsible character, they believed, was the soldier because he was just doing his job as directed. Guess this is what happens when you belong to a society that propagates the just-world theory.