evilmac Protagonist Becoming Evil in Shakespeares Macbeth :: Macbeth essays

Macbeth: Protagonist Becoming Evil The story Macbeth is like no other in plot and poetry. It sets itself apart from the rest by having a protagonist becoming evil. What makes Macbeth such a complicated character is the way his outlook keeps on changing throughout the play. This essay will prove that Macbeth is an evil man and was not overpowered by ambition to get what he wanted. This essay will also determine that certain characters like the witches did not force him to do evil; they simply triggered it. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is shown as a hero in the Scottish army, that is ironic because Macbeth has defeated a traitor and he will become one. We feel that a person of his loyalty could never commit evil unless he had a good reason or if he would be provoked. After Macbeth's first meeting with the witches, we learn from his aside that he has thought about killing Duncan " My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical" 1(Macbeth 1.3.152). Macbeth also says " If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me Without my stir." 2(Macbeth 1.4.157-159) which means that maybe he does not have to murder the king to gain that title. Luck has been very generous to him and might continue and make him king. Macbeth's true evil thoughts about being king are first shown when he finds out that king Duncan has named his son Malcolm as Prince of Cumberland. He now shows his evil and his true feelings. " Stars, hide your fires; Let not night see my black and deep desires. The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see." 3 (Macbeth 1.4.57-60) Macbeth is actually seeking help from the dark and supernatural. Macbeth is saying that he does not want to see the evil that he will commit until it is done. It is now known that Macbeth is capable of evil and would commit it. Upon meeting Lady Macbeth, we can assume that any evil done by Macbeth would be contributed by her influence. Lady Macbeth is a very powerful women and she has a-lot of power over Macbeth's decisions. After Lady Macbeth reads the letter from Macbeth, she says that he is in fact too noble to kill Duncan in cold blood but he would like to. " It is too full o'th'milk of human kindness To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great, Art not

Hamlet Questions and answers Essay

1.1 1. What happens when Francisco and Bernardo meet at the beginning of 1.1? Where are we, and when? Why is there confusion over which one is supposed to challenge the other by asking â€Å"Who’s there†? Why is Horatio with Bernardo and Marcellus? Who is he? They saw something strange, we are at Denmark. He is asking â€Å"who’s there?† It is because he’s not sure what is there by judging the shadow he saw and it is at night causing the visibility becomes very low as well. Horatio was with Bernardo and Marcellus because they have both seen the ghost of King Hamlet, and Horatio has come to help them determine the origin of the ghost. 2. What is Horatio’s initial response to the story of the apparition? What happens when the ghost appears for the first time (1.1.39.1)? Notice that Horatio addresses it as â€Å"thou.† This is the form of address used with friends or inferiors. Shakespeare’s audience would have been much more attuned to the difference than we are. What is the effect of Horatio’s addressing the ghost as â€Å"thou†? When Horatio was first told about the appearance of the apparition, he was skeptical, † Horatio says ’tis but our fantasy And will not let belief take hold of him† ( 1.1.29). When the ghost was first sighted in the play, Bernardo remarks that the ghost looks similar to the King Hamlet, and Marcellus reasons with Horatio that he should address the ghost. This usage of the word † thou† causes the ghost to exit. Marcellus comments that the ghost was offended, meaning that by Horatio speaking to the ghost of the King with such lack of respect and with demands the ghost left. 3. What does Horatio first assume the appearance of the ghost means (1.1.70)? Why are there such intense war preparations in Denmark? (Read 1.1.69-107 carefully to get the international background of the play.) What does Horatio suggest by his discussion of Julius Caesar’s death (1.1.112 – 125)? Why does he choose the example of Rome? (You may research Julius Caesar if necessary.) Horatio initially assumes that the ghost appearance must mean that there is something wrong with the current government, † this bodes some strange eruption to our state†, and that the appearance is foreshadowing some ominous event that will soon occur. There are intense war preparations in Denmark, and Bernardo and Marcellus question Horatio is he knows the reason behind such actions. Horatio responds that there are rumors that the King Hamlet, who was very prideful in manner, was challenged to battle Fortinbras of Norway and did kill the King Fortinbras. Kind Fortinbras forfeited his land to whoever conquered him, but King Hamlet made a deal and bargained some of the given land to the son of King Fortinbras. The young Fortinbras is uncontrollable with his rage against King Hamlet and Denmark and has been attacking the edges of the land with a spirit of adventure , and is set on his attack to regain the lost lands. Denmark is preparing aggressively for the imminent battle against young Fortinbras of Norway. Horatio is suggesting a connection of Julius Cesar’s and the fall of Rome, in that he discusses that King Hamlet’s death will led to the fall of the land. Horatio chooses the example of Rome to emphasize the King Hamlet’s role in destruction. Both Cesar and King Hamlet are prideful in nature, and have had their pride challenged and their subsequent actions leading to their death. Rome is also known as a grand empire of strength but after the assassination of Julius Cesar, the Roman Republic collapsed and ended. 4. What happens when the ghost appears for the second time (1.1.108)? Why does it leave so abruptly? The questions Horatio asks it represent, according to the thought of the time, the reasons why a ghost could appear. When the ghost appears again, Horatio asks the ghost to speak concerning why it had come in the first place and the reason behind such appearances. When the ghost seems to begin to leave after Horatio questions it, Bernardo and Marcellus try to stop it by throwing their partisans at the ghost. Marcellus believes that the ghost left because they had angered it when they attempted to force the ghost to speak using violence, but Horatio notes that it was the roster crowing that stopped the ghost from speaking and then leaving. 5. What is the purpose of the two discussions of the crowing of the cock, Horatio’s pagan one and Marcellus’ Christian one (1.1.130 – 164)? Horatio tells the others that the rosters crowing awaken a god of daylight and any ghosts who are wandering on the earth are forced to hide until night comes. On the other had Marcellus states that daytime is similar to Christs’ Resurrection, and that no evil thing can roam the Earth during the sacred and hallowed time. These two different discussions regarding the rooster crowing are symbolic of the overall confusion and determination of the ghost’ purpose there. Prince Hamlet later questions if the ghost is something of evil origins there to tempt him into committing sins, or if the ghost is merely trying to help and warn him, and is a victim of the the daylight gods’ reign. 1.2 1. What is the threat from young Fortinbras? (ll. 17-41)? How is Claudius responding to the threat? (You may also want to keep in mind that the name â€Å"Claudius† appears only in the opening stage direction for 1.2. The name is never spoken in the play. He is simply â€Å"the King.†) Throughout his speech, Claudius is telling the court of the sorrow in losing Hamlet, but in joy in the court accepting the marriage of Claudius to Queen Gertrude.Claudius refers the young Fortinbras of his ignorance in believing that Denmark would be weak after the death of King Hamlet, and though Fortinbras is demanding the lands which were lost by King Fortinbras, Claudius is ignoring those demands. King Claudius is also telling the court about the uncle of the king of Norway, who is weak and sick and unaware of young Fortinbras’ actions. King Claudius responds to the threat of war from Norway, by sending a message to the uncle of the king of Fortinbras informing him of young Fortinbras’ mission and in that he is using war supplies from Norway’s subjects, and to stop young Fortinbras from moving further. 2. Based on Claudius’ first 63 lines in office (1.2.1-62), how would you rate him as a ruler? In what ways does he already differ from Old Hamlet as king? (Consider how Old Hamlet would have responded to Young Fortinbras.) Laertes asks King Claudius if he would let him return to France with approval and permission, to which Claudius responds first by asking if Polonius, the father to Laertes, approves. Polonius states that he is reluctantly accepting of Laertes’ question and Claudius formally gives him permission to return to France. So far Claudius’ behavior is very different from those spoken about King Hamlet’s. King Hamlet was said to have been very prideful and warlike in his actions, while Claudius is taking a more diplomatically aggressive reaction. Claudius is avoiding physical confrontation with young Fortinbras and is instead implementing the uncle of King Fortinbras to take action to avoid war. This reaction shows the amount of research done and clear thoughts dedicated to how to react to the threat of young Fortinbras without battle that could be destructive. King Hamlet probably would’ve reacted pridefully by force. Young Fortinbras is basically challenging Denmark to fight, which is how King Hamlet was brought to battle in the first place. 3. What do Claudius and Gertrude want Hamlet to do that he doesn’t want to do? Why won’t they let him do it? How does he respond to them? How do they respond to the way he responds to them? (Research the three well-known people associated with the University of Wittenberg in Germany: Martin Luther, Doctor Faustus, and Hamlet. Can you see any connections among the three?) Claudius and Gertrude want Hamlet to stay in Elsinore instead of going back to the University in Wittenberg, and in response he said, forcibly,† i shall in all my best, obey you, madame†, and only responds to his mother. This choice in response displays the amount of anger and repressed emotions Hamlet has against Claudius, and not excluding Gertrude. Claudius responds to Hamlets reply by pronouncing how loving and joyfully kind Hamlet is and that they should go to celebrate their marriage with a feast in celebration. Martin Luther translated the Bible into German, and created a whole new religion after he separated himself from the Catholic Church. Doctor Faustus, in the play, had discarded the Bible, in favor of books of magic, and forbidden arts. If Hamlet had gone to this University as well, it is clearly a connection to the separation from  Catholicism and religion, in that Hamlet will begin to question the reason behind the ghost and the incentive of his morality, if religion is no longer needed or believed. 4. How seriously do you take Claudius’ argument against Hamlet’s â€Å"prolonged† mourning (1.2.87-109)? How long has Hamlet been mourning (1.2.138)? (The normal mourning period of a noble or gentle woman for a dead husband at this time [ca. 1600] was a year or more.) Claudius’ argument with Hamlet regarding Hamlet’s prolonged mourning seems ridiculous. Queen Gertrude has also regarded Hamlet’s mourning to be too long and asks why he felt such a personal connection to the death of his father. According to the time period, the mourning period was so recent in relation to the year long usually seen, in that King Hamlet had died only months ago. Read notes on The Wheel of Fortune. Also, consider what you have learned in ENG3U about The Great Chain of Being. Finally, consider what you have learned about archetypes of literature. Now consider #5. 5. How might the death of the King and the remarriage of the Queen to Claudius affect Hamlet’s image of the ideal mother and father archetypes? In other words, what does he come to a realization about at this stage in his journey? It will causes him think that the relationship between mother and father can be easily established by keep changing of marriage, he shows that all the years of relationships between with his father and mother change and there may no true love at all form each other as well. 6. Read Hamlet’s first soliloquy (1.2.129-59) carefully. What is it that is really bothering him about what has happened since his father’s death? How would you describe the tone of his feelings detached, impassioned, rational, ironic, or what? It seems that Hamlet is more confused than angry from his soliloquy. He has been raised in Catholicism and expects the reaction to the marriage of his uncle and mother to be as detested and disgusting throughout society, but  notices how he is alone in his reaction. The double relation, uncle and father, is seen as incestuous and wrong, but he still is unable to know how to comfortably act towards the marriage. Throughout the soliloquy it is clear that Hamlet is more upset from his mother marrying his uncle, than his father’s death, but uses his father death to give him reason for being so upset and betrayed. 7. Concept Consideration: New Historicism Read the following except about religious beliefs of the time from Jung’s Advice to the Players: The shock of Horatio’s news brings him [Hamlet], quite naturally, somewhat out of his despondency. Hope begins to rise once more that perhaps the good father is not completely lost to him. But this is hope tempered by fear and confusion from the beginning. Ghosts, for the Elizabethans, fell into two distinct categories for Catholics and Protestants †¦ . For Catholics, they were actually souls of the departed, on leave from Purgatory. Protestants, on the other hand, held more complex beliefs, thinking them spirits, usually from hell but occasionally from heaven. They were thus either devils or angels who had assumed the shape of the dead (Portfield 78). Question: When Horatio tells Hamlet that he saw the ghost, what does Hamlet suspect the about the nature of the ghost and the reason for its appearance (1.2.254-57)? Which religious views does his opinion seem to favour at this point in time? Works Cited: Portfield, Sally R. Jung’s Advice to the Players: A Jungian Reading of Shakespeare’s Problem Plays. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. 1994. Print.

The House of Mirth

The House of Mirth Free Online Research Papers In Edith Whartons novel, The House of Mirth, the main protagonist, Lily Bart moves back and forth between dreams of marriage and equally strong desires for independence and freedom. Despite her training on the social codes of conduct and etiquette, which was ingrained into her daily existence by her mother, Lily exhibits frequent moments of recklessness that threaten her opportunities in the marriage market. Why does a well-trained, economically motivated, twenty-nine year old virgin risk her chances for a financial and social safe-haven? With the aid of Jacques Lacans theories in the formation of subjectivity in the psyche, an analysis of Lily Barts history and background should help answer this question. In Lacans analysis, there are three orders in the psyche that are crucial and equally important to the formation of subjectivity, they are the Imaginary, the Symbolic, and the Real (Lacan, 1975). In order to understand why Lily Bart continually sabotages her efforts to achieve what she frequently refers to as escape from the dinginess of her present life, (Wharton, 2000) an examination of the Imaginary order must first be made. According to Lacan the human self comes into being through a fundamentally aesthetic recognition. Through an external medium (a mirror) the childs fragmented body is made whole the newly fashioned specular I precedes the social I. The Imaginary originates in the human beings fascination with form (Lacan, 1975). In the case of Lily Bart, the form that she is most fascinated with is her own. Lilys constant mirror gazing initiates the process of constructing a center for herself or her ego. As Terry Eagleton explains, This self, as the mirror situation suggests, is essentially narcissistic: we arrive at a sense of an I by finding that I reflected back to ourselves by some objects or person in the world (Eagleton, 1983). In Lilys case, it is not surprising that her first misrecognition of her image has been supplied by her mother. Her mother looks upon Lilys beauty as a commodity or means to a profitable end. Mrs. Bart studied Lily’s beauty with a kind of passion, as though it were some weapon she had slowly fashioned for her vengeance. It was the last asset in their fortunes, the nucleus around which their life was to be rebuilt. She watched it jealously as though it were her own property and Lily its mere custodian; and she tried to instill into the latter a sense of the responsibility that such a charge involved (Wharton, 2000). Inevitably, Lily also sees herself as a commodity. Her fragmented ego is formed on the basis of her significance as an object whose value is determined by the power of its marketability. As Lacan explains, the ego is just this narcissistic process whereby we bolster up a fictive sense of unitary selfhood by finding something in the world with which we can identify (Eagleton, 1983).Lilys sense of identity is directly tied to the objectification of her beauty. She is willing to auction it off to the highest bidder in the marriage market because as Lawrence Selden so accurately observes, it was what she was brought up for (Wharton, 2000). Even though it may have been what Lily was brought up for, we find that the objectification of Lilys beauty is not an indulgence, but it eventually becomes a means for her survival. According to Jacques Lacan, the two most significant moments in the development of human subjectivity and ego development occur in the mirror stage and the oedipal stage. Both of these stages aid the subject in their passage through the imaginary to the symbolic. These two concepts are clearly defined in James Mellards book, Using Lacan Reading Fiction. Mellard explains that the child who previously perceives itself as pieces or fragments is unified in the mirror image of its other, the mother. But this assumed, narcissistic unity is eventually split by the function called the Oedipus complex (Mellard, 1991). In Lacanian terms, the Oedipus complex can also be referred to as the Law of the Father. This principal theory, Law of the Father, is defined by Lacan as an acceptance of the loss of the paternal metaphor the phallus and a willingness on the part of the subject to follow patriarchal authority or law. Lilys desire for independence and freedom lies in direct conflict with what Lacan terms as the Law of the Father or patriarchal law. The phallus and the Name-of-the-Father symbolize that which comes between the mother and child, separating the one from the other, â€Å"symbolizing that which the mother does not have (Lacan, 1975). A monumental moment in Lilys ego formation occurs when her father announces to Lily and Mrs. Bart that he is financially ruined. Wharton describes Mr. Bart as a hazy outline neutral-tinted figure that Lily saw through a blurfirst of sleepiness, then of distance and indifference (Wharton, 2000).In the imaginary Lilys feelings of security and vanity are provided by her dominant mother. Lilys life changes, however, when the power and authority of her father is diminished. Along a metonymic chain of signifiers, Lily realizes that money, power, security, and social standing are all contained under the signifier, father, and upon her fathers death, her world is no longer the same. The death of Lilys father shows her how precarious life is for women who are not under the protection of men. Lily and her mother, devoid of income, rely on the hospitality and charity of relatives. At the age of eighteen, Lilys world is shattered and the only tool available for her use was her face. She rememb ers her mother fiercely stating, â€Å"you’ll get it all back, with your face (Wharton, 2000). The death of Lilys mother further fragments Lilys image of herself. When Mrs. Bart was alive, she was a willing participant in the preparation of her daughter in the marriage market. Now, Lilys reflection is offset by the other prospective virgins of her society and sees the disadvantage that motherlessness places on her task of finding a wealthy husband. Lily concludes that, Mr. Gryces arrival had fluttered the maternal breasts of New York and when a girl has no mother to palpitate for her; she needs be on the alert for herself (Wharton, 2000). Lily feels the loss of support, guidance and self-interest that her mother would have provided if she were still alive. Mrs. Barts death inhibits Lilys transference to the symbolic and further mires her in the imaginary where she mourns the loss of, or lack of a mother. Lilys actions, on the surface, personify an individual who is willing to follow patriarchal authority or law. She appears to be willing to assume traditional gender roles as a wife in her society, but she repeatedly makes decisions that, ultimately, sabotage her chances for success. This repetition suggests that there are other desires that she is repressing. Even though outwardly she is willing to give herself away in exchange for money and social position, internally she struggles with her desire for personal freedom. Consequently, according to Lacan, these repressed desires result in a split or divided self. Lacan further explains that the subject is essentially in a state of conflict between the symbolic and imaginary (Lacan, 1975). The phallic symbol for Lily is money and this represents not only patriarchal law but also freedom. Lilys state of conflict between both orders result from her desire for freedom, which involves money and can only be provided by marriage to a wealthy man which will further make her a victim of the civilization which had produced her (Wharton, 2000) and deny her the personal freedom she desires. Lily is constantly driven to accept the symbols of authority in her world and through them the rule of the Symbolic order. The signifiers of this order constantly appear in aspects that Lacan calls the gaze, along with the metonymical imagery associated with it such as the charwomans stare, the stream of admiring looks, and the several hundred pairs of eyes that gaze upon her beauty or scrutinize her actions. Together these, along with other examples, represent one of the most important motifs in Whartons narrative. The gaze, as Lacan might say, cuts in many directions, as it links the subject to the object and by that linkage turns each into the other. Lily Bart is metaphorically trapped under the gaze which dominates as a double for the New York leisure society who uses their prescribed laws and codes to continually judge Lilys acceptability. Lilys values and self-worth are defined by the perceptions and opinions of others. She is seduced by the ways in which society eagerly reflec ts back upon the heroine, the image it encourages her to flash. A strong example of this can be seen in Whartons tableaux vivants scene where Lilys portrayal of Reynolds, Mrs. Lloyd, shows Lily in the role of an erotic object that exists for others, while alienating her own subjectivity and transferring to those who wish to behold or enjoy her beauty. According to Lacan this narcissistic identification with the other enables her to see her function and place of her world and her being (Lacan, 1975). Is this truly the real Lily Bart, divested of the trivialities of her little world, or is it according to that experienced connoisseur Mr. Ned Van Alstyne just a deuced bold thing showing herself (Wharton, 2000). Lacan would suggest that Lily caught in the gaze of her spectators becomes whatever each of them fantasize her to be. Even though this gaze would initially illicit a sense of accomplishment and self-satisfaction from Lily, she is quite literally on display and there is an emptiness or lack of value that this public display provides her in her search for self. Lily is adept at attracting the gaze of others, and sees herself as a skillful operator (Wharton, 2000). Early in the novel, she sets her sights on the eligible and wealthy Percy Gryce, and feels confident and almost sure that she, â€Å"landed him, with a few days work, she would win her reward (Wharton, 2000). Despite the financial security and status that a marriage to Percy Gryce would mean to Lilys escape from dinginess, she does everything possible to sabotage her success. She complains that the reward itself seemed unpalatable just then she could get no zest from the thought of victory (Wharton, 2000). Lily describes the courting process with Gryce as a chore but realizes that, she could not ignore him on the morrow, she must follow up her success, must submit to more boredom, must be ready with fresh compliances and adaptabilities, and all on the bare chance that he might ultimately decide to do her the honor of boring her for life. It was a hateful fatebut how escapes from it (Wharton, 2000)? Even with marriage ability on the line, she takes a day off and indulges in her own desires with Selden. In this scene, Lily tries with Seldens help to define the meaning of success. Selden expresses his idea of success as being a form of freedom from everythingfrom money, from poverty, from ease and anxiety, from all material accidents a kind of republic of the spirit (Wharton, 2000). Seldens description awakens in Lily a sense of joy and enthusiasm, and he is able to put into language the desire or jouissance that is missing in Lilys life. Lacan explains that to enter language is to be severed from the real, that inaccessible realm which is always beyond the reach of signification, always outside the symbolic order (Eagleton, 1983). Lacan further defines the Real as the truth that we repress. Once that which we desire is the object of discourse, it no longer can maintain the position of jouissance because it becomes real or truth. Lacan tells us that language is, what hollows being into desire. Language divides uparticulatesthe fullness of the imaginary. To enter language is to be severed from what Lacan calls the real, that inaccessible realm which is always beyond the reach of signification, always outside the symbolic order (Lacan, 1975). Lacans contribution to the understanding of the subject is unique because, unlike Freud, he accounted for the power that the social/linguistic world plays in the formation of the self. Lacan viewed the interaction between the linguistic and the ego as a process in constant fluctuation just as the subject is in a constant state of fluctuation between the Imaginary and Symbolic orders. The Real is expressed in the form of discourse, and it can only be studied in its effects on the other two dimensions, the Imaginary and Symbolic (Lacan, 1975). Lily comes close to being able to express her lack or desire or void in words. She eagerly tells Selden, Whenever I see you, I find myself spelling out a letter of the sign and yesterdaylast evening at dinnerI suddenly saw a little way into your republic (Wharton, 2000). Lily is in the process of trying to find out what the word is that is written on the sign that will lead her into the republic of spirit. Unfortunately, even upon her death this word is never spoken between her and Selden. Selden and Lilys discourse is structured similarly to what Lacan refers to as the language of the unconscious. He further explains that, the unconscious is structured, not amorphous, and it speaks rhetorically through the dreams, mistakes, and symptoms of the subject it is the body itself that provides the raw material that the unconscious uses to express itself and the analyst, like a literary critic must read (Lacan, 1975). In Lacanian theory, the conscious and the unconscious cannot be separated. The unconscious bears the marks of the signifiers impressed on it. Selden seems to understand that there is something different about his conversation with Lily. Something he does not usually experience with others. He concludes that ,he himself did not know why he had led their talk along such lines; it was one of those moments when neither seemed to speak deliberately, when an indwelling voice in each called to the other across unsounded depths of feeling (Wharton, 2000) This unconscious expression of the subjects wants and desires goes along way in explaining why Lily had a fatalistic sense of being drawn from one wrong turning to another without ever perceiving the right road till it was too late to take it (Wharton, 2000). In the House of Mirth, Lily Barts unconscious speaks volumes about the decisions that she makes with her life. On more than one occasion, Lily seems to be following a path and then quickly changes her mind about the direction she is going. Carry Fisher assumes that,† its just flightiness but sometimes I think its because, at heart, she despises the things shes trying for (Wharton, 2000). In the end, it is not language but silence that dominates Lilys actions. When Gerty Farish asks Lily to tell her the truth about what happened in Europe, Lily explains to Gerty that Where a woman is concerned, its the story thats easiest to believe (Wharton, 2000). Both Sim Rosedale and George Dorset offer Lily options that will place her back in a position in the New York society that she is accustomed to; however, at the moment that she must make her decision, suddenly fear possessed her, fear of herself and of the terrible force of the temptation (Wharton, 2000). George Dorset appeals to Lily, Its just a word to say, and you put me out of my misery! (Wharton, 2000). Rosedale offers to financially back Lily in her fight against Bertha Dorset. He implores Lily, Here I am ready to lift you out of your [worries] tomorrow, if you say so. Do you say so, Miss Lily? (Wharton, 2000); but Miss Lily never says so. She maintains her silence even when she knows that the words will redeem her in the eyes of a society who has cruelly judged her all her life. Berthas letters are also a metaphor for the silence that Lily keeps at the end. In burning the words that Bertha has written, Lily refuses to allow language to save her. Lacan would say that Lily has reversed into the pre-oedipal stage where language is unavailable to the subjects identification. She is painfully isolated and the loneliness and despair that exist in the last moments of Lilys life are evident. She wonders, If only life could end nowend on this tragic yet sweet vision of lost possibilities, which gave her a sense of kinship with all the loving and foregoing in the world! (Wharton, 2000) Terry Eagleton explains that, according to Freud, The final goal of life is death, a return to that blissful inanimate state where the ego cannot be injured (Eagleton, 1983). Lacan also agrees that when we are severed from the mothers body: after the Oedipus crisis, we will never again be able to attain this state even though we will spend all of our lives hunting for it (Eagleton, 1983). It is under the fatal effects of chloral, which Lily returns to this pre-oedipal state. The significance of the baby that she holds in her arms indicates that Lily is either expressing a lost sense of possibilities of motherhood or she is in fact hallucinating her own rebirth in the form of the imaginary baby. Through death, her maternal longings are satisfied with the reunion of this unreal child. It is also significant that Wharton suggests that Lily does not merely dream of the child, but she actually feels its soft, bodily presence (Wharton, 2000). She becomes frantic and desperate as a flash of loneliness and terror tore its way .She started up again, cold and trembling with the shock; for a moment she seemed to have lost her hold of the child. But noshe was mistakenthe tender pressure of its body was still close to hers; the recovered warmth flowed through her once more, she yielded to it (Wharton, 2000). Lily returns to the pre-oedipal stage to seek the reassurance, comfort and warmth that she cannot find in the harsh reality of her New York world. Rather than conform to society, she retreats, and it is only in death that Lily finds the last letters of the signpost that show her the way into the republic of spirit. Eagleton, T. (1983). Literary Theory and Introduction. Great Britain: Blackwell Publishers, Ltd. Lacan, J. (1975). The Language of The Self: The Function of Language in Psychoanalysis. New York: Dell Publishing Company. Leitch, V. B. (2001). The Mirror Stage as Formative The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. New York: W.W. Norton and Company. Mellard, J. M. (1991). Using Lacan Reading Fiction. Urbana: Univerwsity of Ilinois Press. Wharton, E. (2000). The House of Mirth. New York: Signet Classic. Research Papers on The House of MirthWhere Wild and West MeetAnalysis Of A Cosmetics AdvertisementEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug UseThree Concepts of PsychodynamicAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaMind TravelHip-Hop is Art

The eNotes Blog The Beginnings of a SeaChange

The Beginnings of a SeaChange In an area of Nigeria that is as densely populated as Paris but contains only one primary school, innovative architecture aims to make education available to all. In the water community of Makoko just off the coast of Lagos, Nigeria, an exciting new project attempts to turn the tide of limited education and unstable infrastructure. Though the Makokos population is soaring, a lack of well-constructed buildings means that the community   houses only one primary school to serve its approx. 86,000 residents. Why the lack or solid infrastructure? Its because the islands of Lagos amongst which the fishing village resides are vastly covered in water. Residents of Makoko have for years built their homes atop stilts embedded deep in the seabed. Now a team of architects led by native Nigerian Kunle Adayemi will update that idea in order to build schools that will not only withstand the rigors of West Africas current climate, but hopefully also for many years to come. As pictured above, the increase in rainfall and rising sea levels Lagos has experienced over time, due to global climate change, renders the local Makoko housing unsuitable. Adayemis solution is to create a completely free-floating building- one unchanged by any rise or fall in water levels. He and his team have also worked to make sure the new schoolhouses will be eco-friendly and space efficient to boot: Adayemi is hopeful that the design will help more than just the people of Makoko:  The building can be adapted for other uses, such as homes or hospitals. Ultimately, its a vision that can be used to sustainably develop [African] coastal communities. But of course, such an inspirational story is inevitably accompanied by typical political woes; the government of Lagos is reluctant to encourage the expansion of a water-based community. Just in July of last year, Nigerian government officials destroyed dozens of residences after giving residents 72 hours notice of eviction, an act that resulted in the death of one Makoko resident. The reality Adayemi faces- one greater than the threat posed by natural disasters- is that this mere slum (for lack of a better description) occupies prime waterfront, a commodity the politicians of Lagos wont readily relinquish. Thus the project, while furthering the possibilities of architecture, science, and education, faces its biggest opposition in near-sighted bureaucracy: a reminder that advancing education in Africa is never as simple a task it seems on its glass-like surface. For more on this amazing project, head to the Guardian. Its article contains an interesting video that provides a bit of visual insight into life on the waters of Makoko.

The History of Cable Cars and Electric Streetcars

The History of Cable Cars and Electric Streetcars San Franciscan Andrew Smith Hallidie patented the first cable car on January 17, 1861, sparing many horses the excruciating work of moving people up the citys steep roadways. Using metal ropes he had patented, Hallidie devised a mechanism by which cars were drawn by an endless cable running in a slot between the rails which passed over a steam-driven shaft in the powerhouse. The First Cable Railway After gathering financial backing, Hallidie and his associates constructed the first cable railway. The track ran from the intersection of Clay and Kearny Streets along 2,800 feet of track to the crest of a hill 307 feet above the starting point. At 5:00 on the morning of August 1, 1873, a few nervous men climbed aboard the cable car as it stood on the hilltop. With Hallidie at the controls, the car descended and arrived safely at the bottom. Given San Franciscos steep terrain, the cable car came to define the city. Writing in 1888, Harriet Harper declared: If anyone should ask me what I consider the most distinctive, progressive feature of California, I should answer promptly: its cable car system. And it is not alone its system which seems to have reached a point of perfection, but the amazing length of the ride that is given you for the chink of a nickel. I have circled this city of San Francisco, I have gone the length of three separate cable lines (by means of the proper transfers) for this smallest of Southern coins. The success of the San Francisco line led to the expansion of that system and the introduction of street railways in many other cities. Most U.S. municipalities had abandoned horse-drawn cars for electrically powered cars by the 1920s. The Omnibus The first mass transportation vehicle in America was an omnibus. It looked like a stagecoach and was pulled by horses. The first omnibus to operate in America began running up and down Broadway in New York City in 1827. It was owned by Abraham Brower, who also helped organize the first fire department in New York. There had long been horse-drawn carriages in America to take people where they wanted to go. What was new and different about the omnibus was that it ran along a certain designated route and charged a very low fare. People who wanted to get on would wave their hands in the air. The driver sat on a bench on top of the omnibus at the front, like a stagecoach driver. When people who were riding inside wanted to get off the omnibus, they pulled on a little leather strap. The leather strap was connected to the ankle of the person who was driving the omnibus. Horse-drawn omnibuses ran in America cities from 1826 until about 1905. The Streetcar The streetcar was the first important improvement over the omnibus. The first streetcars were also pulled by horses, but the streetcars rolled along special steel rails that were placed in the middle of the roadway instead of traveling along regular streets. The wheels of the streetcar were also made of steel, carefully manufactured in such a way so they would not roll off the rails. A horse-drawn streetcar was much more comfortable than an omnibus, and a single horse could pull a streetcar that was larger and carried more passengers. The first streetcar began service in 1832 and ran along Bowery Street in New York. It was owned John Mason, a wealthy banker, and built by John Stephenson, an Irishman.  Stephensons New York company would become the largest and most famous builder of horse-drawn streetcars. New Orleans became the second American city to offer streetcars in 1835. The typical American streetcar was operated by two crew members. One man, a driver, rode up front. His job was to drive the horse, controlled by a set of reigns. The driver also had a brake handle that he could use to stop the streetcar. When streetcars got bigger, sometimes two and three horses would be used to haul a single car. The second crew member was the conductor, who rode at the back of the car. His job was to help passengers get on and off the streetcar and to collect their fares. He gave the driver a signal when everyone was on board and it was safe to proceed, pulling on a rope that was attached to a bell that the driver could hear at the other end of the car.   Hallidie’s Cable Car The first major attempt to develop a machine that could replace horses on Americas streetcar lines was the cable car in 1873. Converting streetcar lines from horse cars to cable cars required digging a ditch between the rails and building a chamber under the track from one end of the line to the other. This chamber was called a vault. When the vault was finished, a small opening was left at the top. A long cable was placed inside the vault. The cable ran under city streets from one end of  the streetcar line to the other. The cable was spliced into a big loop and was kept moving by a huge steam engine with massive wheels and pulleys located in a powerhouse at the side of the street. The cable cars themselves were equipped with a device that extended down below the car into the vault and allowed the operator of the car to latch onto the moving cable when he wanted the car to go. He could release the cable when he wanted the car to stop. There were many pulleys and wheels inside the vault to make sure the cable was able to go around corners, as well as up and down hills. Although the first cable cars ran in San Francisco, the largest and busiest fleet of cable cars was in Chicago. Most large American cities had one or more cable car lines by 1890. Trolley Cars Frank Sprague  installed a complete system of electric streetcars in Richmond, Virginia, in 1888. This was the first large-scale and successful use of electricity to run a citys entire system of streetcars. Sprague was born in Connecticut in 1857. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland in 1878 and began a career as a naval officer. He resigned from the navy in 1883 and went to work for Thomas Edison. Many cities turned to electric-powered streetcars after 1888. To get electricity to the streetcars from the powerhouse where it was generated, an overhead wire was installed over streets. A streetcar would touch this electric wire with a long pole on its roof. Back at the powerhouse, big steam engines would turn huge generators to produce the electricity needed to operate the streetcars. A new name was soon developed for streetcars powered by electricity: trolley cars.

Managerial Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Managerial Behaviour - Essay Example We were responsible for development, design and implementation of a website for a retail company which was aimed at enabling it to receive online orders directly from its customers. The project was planned to be completed in 6 months and was led by a manager, who was already working on two other projects. However, within a short period of 2 months, there arose drastic conflicts between team members and manager had to intervene to resolve them promptly so that the project would not suffer. 1. How does the manager undertake the activity being studied? When the matter reached the manager, he developed sound knowledge of background and circumstances of the situation before arriving at any conclusions or resolutions. Soon it was revealed that the bone of contention was partially the manager himself. The complexities of matrix structuring and ambiguous project requirements made it difficult for the team members to be clear about their team roles and duties and allocation of resources. This in turn was caused by the manager’s minimal input in the project and absence from most of the team briefings. His negligence towards this specific project had caused role conflicts and low morale amongst the members. The manager diagnosed the nature of conflict and identified that the team members were blaming each other for delay in designing a phase of the website. As a result a milestone, which was to be achieved 2 weeks back, was still in progress while 3 specialists responsible for it were finding a scapegoat for this setback. With no proper delegation and allocation of tasks, there were clashes as to who was responsible to complete which process. They claimed that the resources were not sufficient and time was wasted due to unavailability of website development tools simultaneously to each of them. Manager decided to focus his attention on this project to get it back on track according to initial project plan. He allotted each member equal tasks according to their skil ls and strengths and scheduled the processes to facilitate the sharing of resources. Project had limited funds and therefore it wasn’t possible for him to arrange for more and therefore it was necessary to ensure completion within the given manpower and equipment. He drafted formal role definitions for each of the members to avoid any ambiguities and confusion regarding what was expected to be contributed by each of them. His attention was substantially needed in areas of controlling and monitoring since the project was lagging behind schedule. He mobilized the resources and ensured effective and efficient utilization of each member’s core competences and resources available, diverting resources from stronger areas and focusing them on those more in need of them. He held team meetings and conducted one-on-one sessions to address concerns of each member, educate them with project requirements and deadlines, familiarize himself with the entire team and boost their morale through empathizing skills. He also encouraged members to feel free to contact him in person and whistleblow about other members if necessary. After taking updates on progress of each task, he compared them with the planned timetables and appraised performances accordingly. Since thereafter, he gave equal attention to this project and finally completed the project successfully,

Managing strategic change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Managing strategic change - Essay Example In 2003 the system of tax credits for children and for adults was overhauled and extended, such that the meaning of means-testing has been substantially changed. The NHS Plan, published in 2000, finally produced a major cash injection for the service, the results of which did not begin to be felt until the end of 2001. Only after acting to redraw the work-welfare relationship to embody the ideas of opportunity and responsibility via the new instruments of the New Deals and tax credits did New Labour begin to justify vastly increased expenditure on health and education as necessary investments in human capital. It is also crucial to note that Labour Party leaders expressed caution about how much the state could actually do to achieve these ideas at the heart of its policy goals. In a speech on 'modernising central government' in 1998, Tony Blair said: 'Big government is dead. The days of tax and spend are gone. (www.new.bbc.co.uk) When people come together in groups, communities, cities or nations, levels of confusion and anxiety rise. Attempts are made to manage this anxiety by creating structure, rules and legislation. Organizations can be viewed as mini societies in which changes are driven or resisted in accordance with the beliefs that are deeply held by the members of that society. The beliefs may not be articulated explicitly. They may be conveyed symbolically, through such things as stories, myths, rituals and ceremonies. (Klein, 2003) Force field analysis was developed by Kurt Lewin. Force field analysis enables managers to identify the forces that are likely to restrain a particular change. Force field analysis is sometimes used with groups in order to structure an open discussion about what is blocking a change. Having identified the potential sources and levels of resistance, Lewin suggested that managers should act so as to reduce the restraining forces, rather than to intensify the forces driving the change. Lewin, like Newton, argued that to every action there was an equal and opposite reaction. Increasing the forces for change increases the forces resisting it. Overcoming resistance was characterized by Russell-Jones as a movement from defiance, through compliance to alliance. Central to the effectiveness of any approach to man-aging resistance is the quality of the relationships that managers develop with people in the organization. We look at conversational approaches to developing closer relationships wi th people. (Johnson & Scholes, 1999) Practical Force field analysis. Unfreeze current attitudes According to BBC report Mr Nicholson, who has worked in the NHS for 29 years, said some of the changes would be aimed at reducing the NHS deficit, which topped '500 million. But he added it was also about improving services by providing the best care in fewer centres, although he acknowledged this would mean patients travelling further for treatment. Undoubtedly there will be tough decisions to make over the next 12 months to reflect changing services. (www.new.bbc.co.uk) Move to a new level According to BBC report the NHS chief executive further said that there would be up to 60 reviews of hospitals in England. He said the changes could affect every region, and may lead to emergency, maternity and