Rags to riches

For the thoroughbred racehorse, see Rags to Riches (horse).

Rags to Riches refers to any situation in which a person rises from poverty to wealth, or sometimes from obscurity to fame. This is a common archetype in literature and popular culture (for example, the writings of Horatio Alger, Jr.).

These stories give the poor hope that they can rise to fame and wealth. They are most popular in societies such as the United States, where confidence in the ability to move between social classes is an important part of the national identity, and lays the foundation of the "American Dream".

Classic times

• Fairy tales, such as Cinderella and Aladdin
• Genghis Khan who was homeless with just his mother and his siblings went on to create the second largest land empire in history.
• The Roman Emperor Diocletian, born in poverty and whose father was a former slave (by some sources, the emperor himself was born in slavery) [1].
• The Arthurian story of Sir Gareth, who rises from a lowly kitchen boy to a prominent Knight of the Round Table.
• Pope Leo III was of commoner origin and attained the high position in spite of violent opposition from the nobility, who considered the papacy as their preserve.

Modern times

• Movies, such as Rocky, Citizen Kane, Scarface, The Pursuit of Happyness, Charlie Chaplin in The Gold Rush, Goodfellas, The Blind Side, Guru, Slumdog Millionaire, and Magic Beyond Words: The J.K. Rowling Story.
• Video games such as Rags to Riches, a 1985 computer game released for the Commodore 64, or Grand Theft Auto: IV, wherein the character is a poor Serbian immigrant who rises up in the criminal empire.
• Game shows like The Price Is Right, Queen for a Day, and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
• Reality television shows such as American Idol, The X Factor and Joe Millionaire.
• Rags to Riches (TV series).
• "Rags to Riches" (song), from 1953, by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, popularized by Tony Bennett.
• Rags to Riches, a 1981 romance novel by Joanne Kaye (Rachel Cosgrove Payes)
• Guns and Roses' song Paradise City features the term on its lyrics.

Criticism

The concept of "Rags to riches" has been criticised from two opposite directions:

• By proponents of rigidly hierarchical class systems, where all persons know their station in life and remain for life in the same social position into which they were born.^{[citation needed]} This is expressed for example in the Bible's Book of Proverbs:

For three [things] the earth is disquieted, and for four [which] it cannot bear: For a slave when he reigneth (...) and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress.

"A slave when he reigneth", (עבד כי ימלוך) has become a still-current Hebrew expression, implying that a slave, or a person from a low social origin, would be bitter and vindictive having attained a position of power.

• By social reformers and revolutionaries, who argue that only a handful of exceptionally capable and lucky persons are actually able to travel the "rags to riches" road, and that the great publicity given to such cases is an illusion designed to help keep the masses of the working class and the poor in line, and prevent them from agitating for an overall collective change in the direction of social equality.

See also

• Capitalism
• Lottery
• Nouveau riche
• Poverty
• Ragged Dick
• Self-Made Men
• Social mobility
• Starman Jones
• The Ugly Duckling
• Wealth

External links

• "From Rags To Riches" at GoEnglish.com
• Rags to riches at TV Tropes
• Rags to Riches Rags to Riches Amazing Wall Street Stories of how eight men reach success against the odds.