Of Human Bondage Review Essay Example

Of Human Bondage Review Paper Essay on Of Human Bondage Really great work that reveals the many flaws in the character of people, showing peoples thoughts. Reveals the contradictory actions of the characters. This is the contradiction of the book. The main character Philip Carey important proof. In early works, I treated him with a sense of pity, and believed that he still be able to conquer the self respect as a person. But after all his humiliating acts for Mildred, miserable waitress, I felt some disappointment. Thats really really Everyone architect of his own fortune! And everyone chooses their own destiny. And maybe, in fact, love is blind ?! After all, no one is forcing Philip persevere displays of affection for him, the more he thinks about the fact that this treatment brings only one experiencing it. For me, this feature a man has no self-esteem. I even Mildred sometimes treated with great respect, che to him. Because she knows about at least for what she did and why humiliate Philip ran to Miller. She chooses the best for them selves, a better life, a life without a lack of money. And for what Philip spends his years It is very observant, very correctly described the feelings of Philip -? First attraction, then hatred, and then by just feeling Just to satisfy his evil passions. Note that this is probably true, as men described feeling man. But Philip is justified to hurt Mildred. Sleep, revenge and throw like a used tissue. Because he failed to achieve what he wants. In general, he was a great egotist. On the one hand, I understand that he has a physical ailment, he had to go through a lot in this regard but on the other hand not just me because no other. At the same time he condemned Fanny Price .. for the anger the people that surrounded her. And he did not do better. Recall at least Nora because she gave him all the love which could, emotional warmth, she managed to convince him that he was limping a trifle, not worthy of attention. And he did it . As I adore Nora! Well done! The feeling of pride in me has risen up to the limit of the feminine We will write a custom essay sample on Of Human Bondage Review specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Of Human Bondage Review specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Of Human Bondage Review specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The longer read the more I realized that Philip is not more than angry at the whole world of people. Instead of raising a good, he cultivated anger. He believed that all the blame for the fact that he did not catch on life as he wants to. As a child, yet it is clear he did not belong to himself, but then when he became a young man of charges is not diminished. He was trying to prove to the world that he is the same as all. but I opted for this rather strange ways. And his mind is not proof of willpower. He did not know, see what he wanted from life. He did not have a clear purpose (unlike Mildred, Fanny Price) . He fell from one extreme to another. He had two conditions: 1. The person must indulge him in all things, because the protagonist is physically deprived; 2. Love for another person, and a good attitude if only the weaker Philip. And then Philip benefactor. He reveled in his good deeds and waited in response to the same .. as it was written Somerset: He had a theory, it i s believed that women dissolute by nature and that persistence eventually always win. Consumer .. Feeling it was born out of wounded pride » . She put in the evaluation of the 7, because of the effect of the LP candy. .vrode as has long her thumb in her mouth, but she still does not end here and .. thumb-thumb and then BANG! -zhenilsya love and the end of the book. Another factor when Philip parted with Nora during these two chapters I have at least ten times counted the word angry well, somehow jarred me .. Is Somerset Maugham already grinding out work? The General could not go to bat for so long . And say: The main character -tryapka who is willing to go over the heads and hearts of the people, which he is very dear for the sake of their own self-esteem and obscure desires »

How to Use the Complement Rule in Statistics

How to Use the Complement Rule in Statistics In statistics, the complement rule is a theorem that provides a connection between the probability of an event and the probability of the complement of the event in such a way that if we know one of these probabilities, then we automatically know the other one. The complement rule comes in handy when we calculate certain probabilities. Many times the probability of an event is messy or complicated to compute, whereas the probability of its complement is much simpler. Before we see how the complement rule is used, we will define specifically what this rule is. We begin with a bit of notation.  The complement of the event  A, consisting of all elements in the  sample space  S  that are not elements of the set  A, is denoted by  AC. Statement of the Complement Rule The complement rule is stated as the sum of the probability of an event and the probability of its complement is equal to 1, as expressed by the following equation: P(AC) 1 – P(A) The following example will show how to use the complement rule. It will become evident that this theorem will both speed up and simplify probability calculations. Probability Without the Complement Rule Suppose that we flip eight fair coins - what is the probability that we have at least one head showing? One way to figure this out is to calculate the following probabilities. The denominator of each is explained by the fact that there are 28 256 outcomes, each of them equally likely. All of the following us a formula for combinations: The probability of flipping exactly one head is C(8,1)/256 8/256.The probability of flipping exactly two heads is C(8,2)/256 28/256.The probability of flipping exactly three heads is C(8,3)/256 56/256.The probability of flipping exactly four heads is C(8,4)/256 70/256.The probability of flipping exactly five heads is C(8,5)/256 56/256.The probability of flipping exactly six heads is C(8,6)/256 28/256.The probability of flipping exactly seven heads is C(8,7)/256 8/256.The probability of flipping exactly eight heads is C(8,8)/256 1/256. These are mutually exclusive events, so we sum the probabilities together using one the appropriate addition rule. This means that the probability that we have at least one head is 255 out of 256. Using the Complement Rule to Simplify Probability Problems We now calculate the same probability by using the complement rule. The complement of the event â€Å"We flip at least one head† is the event â€Å"There are no heads.† There is one way for this to occur, giving us the probability of 1/256. We use the complement rule and find that our desired probability is one minus one out of 256, which is equal to 255 out of 256. This example demonstrates not only the usefulness but also the power of the complement rule. Although there is nothing wrong with our original calculation, it was quite involved and required multiple steps. In contrast, when we used the complement rule for this problem there were not as many steps where calculations could go awry.​

HR Pay scale and benefits programs for HR Professional Essay

HR Pay scale and benefits programs for HR Professional - Essay Example A wide range f methods are used to conduct performance appraisals, from the simplest f ranking schemes through objective-based, standard-based and competency-based system to complex behaviorally anchored rating schemes (Snape et al., 1994). Such as (Dessler, 1997): "There is no general theory about performance per se" (Guest 1997). However, the differentiate between a good, average or indifferent performance could be measured with performance criteria which basis on the empirical evidence. Armstrong and Baron (1998) highlight two central propositions used to justify performance assessment: (1) People, either as individuals or teams, put the greatest effort into performing well if they know and understand what is expected f them and have had an involvement in specifying those expectations. (2) Employees' ability to meet performance expectations is based on: individual levels f capability; the degree f support provided by management; and the processes, systems and resources made available to them by the organization. While Boxall (2003) state that the task f judging a firm's performance in HRM is complex and controversial. There is no single criterion to exam the effective f performance management. It can be argued on three aspects - its productivity, its flexibility and its legitimacy. Pursuing productivity and flexibility goals inevitably involves the management f strategic tensions, including the problem f how to balance short-run needs for stable performance with long-run needs for agility. The role f legitimacy aims to build employment citizenship thus increase organizational performance. Organization takes many forms, whatever, how an organization is structured, its output is the product f interaction between different employees, departments, divisions and so on. Frequently, it is difficult to determine whose performance has been critical, or most significant, to the completion f a particular task (Price, 2004). In practice, according to Armstrong and Baron (1998), the goals f managing performance are: - Serving as a lever for change in developing a more performance-oriented culture. - Assisting in achieving sustainable

Britain in 1960s and 1980s Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Britain in 1960s and 1980s - Essay Example Britain in 1960s and 1980s This was because the 70 million children from the post war baby boom had by then transformed into teenagers and young adults. This was a movement that weaned away from the conservative notions of the fifties and led to revolutionary thinking and change in the overall cultural life of British and Americans. This was a generation slightly ahead of the previous generation of its time. This youth strived for and demanded change. They were mostly rich from their ancestors and families and longed for changes that would impact educations, entertainment, laws, values and lifestyle. This generation has had immense impact and some of its revolutionary ways continue to trend in even today. (Hall, 1993) Towards the end of 1940s and the beginning of 1950s striking differences between the teens and parents began to crop up. The paradigms of the British dating system was completely transforming towards the end of 1950s. The â€Å"Make Love Not War† was trending towards a social subculture th at was weaning away from the concept of â€Å"rating and dating† system and moving towards steady relationships and early marriages. Television had started gaining momentum and becoming increasingly popular amongst the teens. They were now portrayed as juvenile delinquents. The youth of this era was rich and preferred a lavish life style. Thus it does not come as a surprise that it was in the sixties only that the counter culture hippies emerged. (Cohen, 1964) There were varying opinions about draft and military involvement by them. Drug usage became significant for this generation and a major topic with the generation gap of this era. This is denoted by a depiction of Alfred E.Neuman on the cover of Mad Magazine, issue no 129, dated September 1969. In this cover, thy show the â€Å"old† Alfred on the left side and the â€Å"new† Alfred on the right side. The old one is wearing a â€Å"My Country: Right or Wrong† label button while the young one can be se en as long haired and on the right wearing a â€Å"Make Love Not War button†. The cover statement of the magazine read as â€Å"MAD Widens the Generation Gap†. Another famous TV series, All in the Family, depicts the nuances of the conservative of middle aged generation of the previous years and that of the then sixties and the issues arising due to these differences in notions amongst the generation. (Usual Gang of Idiots, 2000) As explained in the aforementioned paragraphs, the drug youth culture also gained momentum during the 1960s. Many people are of the view that an influx of thirty year youth consuming drugs and the inception of this was the 1960s. This trend affected many other western cultures with America and Britain being the primary targets. The western culture became severely damaged as a result of this. Many western movies depict this trend. For instance, Transpoitting and Basketball diaries demonstrate this youth subculture. The sub culture is infused wi th anti-social behavior signaling the negative impact of this sub culture on the youths. It highlites how the youth rejected their main stream society and identity in this era. The film also places emphasis on the role of media in its influence on this type of youth culture. Thus the youth of this era was more rebellious and provocative in their rejection of norms. The influx of drug culture in particular was a result of repeated references to drugs in popular culture. The youth started romanticizing the drug culture which led to its massive adoption all over. Most

The Use of Force by Police, Specific Cases and their Implications Research Paper

The Use of Force by Police, Specific Cases and their Implications - Research Paper Example Force is used by the police to overcome resistance to their authority and to protect both civilians and officers. It is necessary that they have this ability in order for them to carry out their function, and the use of reasonable force is legal. However, the subject is one of significant contention, in regards to both non-deadly and deadly force. The use of force is often connected with racism, with significant concern by civilians that many instances where force is used are the result of racial profiling. There is rising debate about whether the police overstep their boundaries in the use of force, using force when it is not necessary, and in order to subdue or suppress civilians that are involved in undesirable, but not illegal actions. Examples of this include use of police force on civilians during peaceful protests, and using excessive force on particular races but not others. This had lead to concerns that control surrounding the use of force in the police is severely lacking. The manner in which police use force is varied and depends on the circumstance, the individuals involved and the agency in which the officer is from. The most basic form of force involves the use of handcuffs. Other non-lethal forms of force include the use of conductive energy devices (CEDs) such as tasers, and of aerosol sprays such as Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) spray, also known as pepper spray (MacDonald et al., 2009). . Firearms are also used, although the rate at which they are discharged is low, with one study estimating at in 0.6% of incidents a firearm was discharged . There are no national laws or regulations that control the use of firearms within the police, and as a consequence, policies differ between cities and states. The rules and directives concerning the use of force differ between agencies. Within the United States, 45% of local and state law enforcement agencies have been found to allow the use of OC spray, and 20-30% allow the use of CEDs to bypass passive resistan ce . Likewise, different agencies and states have different follow-up procedures for the use of force. The amount of force used by police has been found to differ significantly depending on the authority of the police officer. Detectives were found to be considerably more forceful than patrol officers under the same types of situations . Concern for the use of force by the police is partially connected to the lack of discipline for police officers that use force that is greater than the situation requires, even when the force that was used was clearly unjustified. In the case of the use of lethal force through firearms, following incidents it is often unclear whether the force used was unjustified or justified. As the cases are reviewed by the police, there are few cases where the use of force is considered unjustified and as a consequence there are few criminal charges laid . The definition of justified force that is used by the police in these investigations does not always match this

Historical Account of Tragedy in Literature

Historical Account of Tragedy in Literature The chorus in Aeschylus Agamemnon clearly elucidates the Aristotelian principle of tragedy: Zeus, whose will has marked for man the sole way where wisdom lies, ordered one eternal plan: Man must suffer to be wise. Elizabethan tragedy is derived from this moralised model of tragedy as depicted by Aristotle in his Poetics. As a genre, Elizabethan tragedy is distinguished from that of Shakespeare, although Shakespeares tragedies are often held as the epitome of the tragic form. Indeed, the Oxford English Dictionary cites only two quotations from the Renaissance under the entry for tragedy, both of which are from Shakespeare. There appears to be a deliberate judgment in including Shakespeare in the dramatic cannon to the exclusion of such influential playwrights as Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Heywood and John Webster. Although it is clear that Shakespeare made an important contribution to the development of modern tragedy, derived from classical models, contemporary dramatists were much more formative in negotiating Aristotelian models of tragedy with the new philosophical, social and political climate of the Renaissance. Philips Sidneys defence of the tragic form in An Apologie for Poetrie (1595) articulates the moral and didactic purpose of poetry. So that the right vse of Comedy will (I thinke) by no body be blamed, and much lesse of the high and excellent Tragedy; that openeth the greatest wounds, and sheweth forth the Vlcers, that are couered with Tissues: that maketh Kinges feare to be Tyrants, and Tyrants manifest their tirannicall humors: that with stirring the affects of admiration and commiseration, teacheth, the vncertainety of this world, and vpon howe weake foundations guilden roofes are built (Sidney F3v-F4) The emphasis on moral instruction is clear, and informed the tragic form in the both Shakespearean and non-Shakespearean dramas. Tragedy, according to Aristotle, is noble and concerned with lofty matters, as opposed to the flippant and crude nature of comedy. Sidney defines the function of tragedy as uncovering the greatest wounds of the inherently weake foundations of the world. Tragedy, therefore, produces an emotional response in the audience by exposing human flaws, which allows them to participate in a form of moral regeneration. Thomas Heywoods An Apology for Actors (1612) also cites the classical model of tragedy in order to elevate English drama in general by accentuating the morally instructive nature of tragedy, as well as to tie his own works to the legitimate tradition of tragedy. If we present a Tragedy, we include the fatall and abortiue ends of such as commit notorious murders, which is aggrauated and acted with all the Art that may be, to terrifie men from the like ab horred practises (Heywood F3v). Heywood thus believes that the tragic downfall of the moral, but flawed, hero is a terrifying lesson to the audience through the pity and fear evoked by watching the play itself, a notion described by Aristotle and termed by modern scholars as catharsis. Despite Heywoods belief in the moral power of tragedy, Renaissance tragedy, for the most part, does not live up to the Aristotelean model. For Stephen Greenblatt (1980), Renaissance theatre, named after a queen whose power is constituted in theatrical celebrations of royal glory and theatrical violence visited upon the enemies of that glory, replays the process of provoking subversion central to the states authorization of its own power: the form itself, as a primary expression of Renaissance power, contains the radical doubts it continually produces (297). Thus, any echo of Aristotelian notions of tragedy in the works of playwrights such as Heywood, Marlowe, Webster, and even Shakespeare, can be seen not as a insistence upon the dramatic perfection of classical forms, but as a means of lending legitimacy to the challenge to political and cultural structures. As Moretti (1982) observed in respect of English Renaissance tragedy one of the decisive influences in the creation of a â€Å"public† that for the first time in history assumed the right to bring a king to justice †¦ Tragedy disentitled the absolute mo narch to all ethical and rational legitimation. Having deconsecrated the king, it thus made it possible to decapitate him (7-8). Rather than reinforcing the social order and legitimizing divine ordination, tragedy opened up the political elite to the possibility of human frailty. Renaissance tragedy can be defined as a violent series of events that is built upon the murder and revenge, concerning characters primarily motivated by jealousy, greed, and anger. According to Aristotle, the tragic hero must be of noble stature, and while his greatness is readily apparent, he is not perfect. Tragedies often concern the aristocratic elite and thus personal tragedies extend to tragedies of state. The tone of the play is sombre, clearly relating the grief and sorrow of the characters themselves. This â€Å"language of lamentation† serves as a warning against the destructive potential of vice and depravity, and can be linked to the Medieval morality plays. Although the presence of othe r non-dramatic sources conceives a national tradition of tragedy which was established on the English stage as early as 1587, with the performance of Thomas Kyds The Spanish Tragedy. Both The Spanish Tragedy and Marlowes Tamburlaine, performed in the late 1580s, exhibit the beginnings of true Renaissance tragedy. Derived from the revenge plays of Seneca, The Spanish Tragedy is a play which satisfied the Aristotelian need for a binary model of moral order, which is complicated by the relations of individual justice to the social and divine order. Tamburlaine, however, moves away from the reductive moralising of earlier poetry and reflects the influence of the Reformation on the dramatic arts, as the theatre established a new place where human possibilities could be envisioned with new freedom. Marlowe is fully aware that he is making the stage the vehicle of a new consciousness: Onely this (Gentlemen) we must performe, The form of Faustus fortunes good or bad. To patient Iudgements we appeale our plaude. (Marlowe, Faustus, 7-9) This appeal to the moral purpose of the play is misleading, for neither Faustus nor Tamberlaine are characters directed by their moral choices. Tamberlaine, it is arguable, is an agent of God while at the same time exercising his free will with no apparent consequence. Marlowe appears to be addressing familiar issues of blasphemous defiance, tyranny, cruelty and arrogance in Tamburlaine, but ironically he presents these issues as the glory of the tragic hero. Unlike traditional tragedies, there is no stable moral framework, with the result that the audience is left feeling uneasy with the divine implications of the heros downfall. Tamburlaine, rather than submit to his pre-ordained fate, boasts of his own dynamic power: I hold the Fates bound fast in yron chaines, And with my hand turne Fortunes wheel about (369-70) Fate and Fortune, two of the most conventional symbols of human limitation, are here manipulated by the hero not as a sign of his hubris, but rather as a heroic achievement. Marlowe uses this gross inversion as a reflection of the changing values in Renaissance society. As Stephen Greenblatt (1980) says, Marlowe writes in the period in which European man embarked on his extraordinary career of consumption, his eager pursuit of knowledge, with one intellectual model after another seized, squeezed dry, and discarded, and his frenzied exhaustion of the worlds resources (199). The Enlightenment saw the questioning of fundamental assumptions about mans place in the world, a uncertainty reflected in the ambiguous relation between the tragic hero and his divinely ordained fate. C. L. Barber (1988) has commented on the way in which the audience engages with such egotistic individualism of the tragic hero, noting the role of the triumphal individual in the Renaissance and the significance of individualistic prophesying as a disruptive form of expression that challenged the authority and legitimacy of the Church and state. Marlowe writes at a time of religious transition and new philosophical notions of self-consciousness, and appropriates religious language and symbolism to launch an attack on the Church. Tamburlaine rebels against divine, political and social order, and in doing so sets himself beyond limitation and definition, alwaiies moouing as the restles Spheares (876). Tamburlaines rebellion is an uneasy one, for there is no possibility of reconciliation and restoration of order. Theridama, the Chiefest Captain of Mycetes hoste, reveals this as he says: Tamburlaine? A Scythian Shepheard, so imbelished With Natures pride, and richest furniture, His looks do menace heauen an dare the Gods †¦ What stronge enchantments tice my yielding soule? †¦ Won with they words, conquered with thy looks, I yield my selfe, my men horse to thee (350-52, 419, 423-4) Liberation is here figured as one of two choices: to reject the divine or to take it over. In Tamburlaines case, he alternatively threatens heaven and dares the gods, or claims identity with the divine to sanction his violence: til by vision, or by speech I heare / Immortall Ioue say, Cease my Tamburlaine, / I will persist a terrour to the world †¦ (3873-75). Tamburlaine self-aggrandizement is given divine legitimacy: Tamburlaine believes that his tyranny and martial lust are condoned through the gods through their silence. The two-part Tamburlaine is based on the historical figure of Timur, a bloody conqueror of Asia, whose greed for power and extravagance culminates with his inevitable downfall. Tamburlaine deviates from the tragic norm in his depiction of the tragic hero; Tamburlaine is not humbled by his dramatic fall, and no moral lesson is learned and repentance achieved. Tamburlaine does not conform to the model of the tragic hero set out in Poetics. The tragic hero is fated to make a serious error which will cause his fall and tragic death, usually caused by hubris, or prideful arrogance, but he remains likeable to the audience for his inherent goodness. Tamburlaine, in contrast, is a character whose goodness is notably absent. In contrast the Aristotlean model, in which the tragic hero is noble from birth, Tamburlaine is an obscure Scythian shepherd in the opening of part 1. He quickly ascends through his bravery and his eloquent speech, and his ferocity on the battlefield. Tamburlaine sees him self as the scourge of God and even dreams of leading his armies in war against the divine army in heaven. In a scene in which Tamburlaine has defeated Cosroe, he responds to Cosroes demands for the reasons behind his treachery. Nature, that framd us of four elements Warring within our breasts for regiment, Doth teach us all to have aspiring minds: Our souls, whose faculties can comprehend The wondrous architecture of the world, And measure every wandering planets course, Still climbing after knowledge infinite, And always moving as the restless spheres, Wills us to wear ourselves and never rest, Until we reach the ripest fruit of all, That perfect bliss and sole felicity, The sweet fruition of an earthly crown. (I.iv. 13-29) With this final line Tamburlaine snatches the crown from dying Cosroes head and places it on his own head, assuming the power of divine legitimacy for himself. Reordering the humours as in constant opposition, rather than harmonious order, is to legitimize his own militaristic behaviour as part of the natural world. He is, in essence, creating himself out of nothing, as he became an emperor from a shepherd, and as such is taking over the divine role of creation. In doing so, he upsets the authority of the moral order, and even his death does not resolve the moral hierarchy. Thomas Heywoods A Woman Killed with Kindness (1603) is described as a domestic tragedy as it deals not with the tragic downfall of the elite, but on the relationship between a husband and wife. Domesticity is the theme of the play, and the language is correspondingly straightforward and unadorned. In contrast with tragedies such as Hamlet or Tamburlaine, Heywoods play does not concern the intrigues and actions of the aristocratic elite or ruling order. A Woman Killed with Kindness is a morality play, concerned with the infidelity of Anne and her likely punishment. She herself expects only death upon her husbands discovery of her affair: Though I deserve a thousand thousand fold More than you can inflict, yet, once my husband, For womanhood – to which I am a shame, Though once an ornament – even for His sake That hath redeemd our couls, mark not my face Nor hack me with your sword, but let me go Perfect and undeformed to my tomb. (xiii.94-100) Her opinion is born out by the tradition of revenge in tragedies as well as in contemporary practice; indeed, by law husbands reserved the right to kill unfaithful wives (Powell 204). However, despite the clear Christian moralizing, Heywoods play departs drastically from the traditional structure of moral tragedy in that the tragic end of the main character results not from divine judgment and retribution, but from the effects of her wrongdoing on her own consciousness. Before the discovery of her betrayal by her husband, her guilt and remorse are apparent. You have tempted me to mischief, Master Wendoll; I have done I know not what. Well, you plead custom; That which for want of wit I granted erst I now must yield through fear. Come, come, lets in. Once oer shoes, we are straight oer head in sin (xi. 110-14) Her repentance is genuine, and carries forward her tragic end. Anne chooses to starve herself to death, thereby taking control both of her sin and her punishment. Heywood puts into dramatic form †¦ the punishment which arises from the erring characters consciousness of their guilt in the place of the punishment of an exterior physical revenge (Bowers 225). Annes emotional torment is meant as a lesson to the audience, and she makes of herself an exemplary figure, breaking away from the domestic thrust of the play towards the universal. Derived from the classical models of comedy and tragedy set out by Aristotle and envisaged by Seneca, Webseters The White Devil (1612) expands the classical tragic structure by adding elements associated with comedy: ironic repetition, theatrical self-consciousness, and inverted tragic situations. There is a repeated pattern in The White Devil of serious action followed by parody, working to undermine the dramatic tradition of tragedy to create what would become the genre of tragicomedy. Tragicomedy is a distinctly non-Aristotelian genre in which the action and subject of the play demand a tragic ending, but this ending is denied in an ironic reversal which produces the happy ending of a traditional comedy. Aristotle did, in fact, depict a kind of tragedy with a happy ending, which would later become tragicomedy, but it was not until the Renaissance that the genre was seen as a legitimate dramatic form. In The White Devil, the Duke of Florence comments on the popular dislike of the c lassically inspired plays which strictly conform to the structure of tragedy and comedy: My tragedy must have some idle mirth int, Else it will never pass (IV.i.119-20) The Dukes comment suggests that an increasingly demanding audience will no longer accept the single-minded classical plays of strict comedy or tragedy, but demand a sophistication of genre. The White Devil is not unique in its admission of tragicomedy, but it is treated as an expression of doubt about the tragic absolutes and as part of a critical double-vision. Incidents are repeated an parodied throughout Websters play, and this system of parallels is used to undermine the tragic status of the patrician characters. In the final scene the tragic hero Flamineo acts out a grotesque fiction of his own death, which is ironically followed by real murder. The farcical ending is paralleled with the authentic tragic image. With its elaborate system of repetition and parody, its ironic contrasts between interpretations of events, and the insistence that every incident is intimately connected with other incidents, The White Devil emphasises the shifting values and ironic double-visions of tragicomedy into the tragic framework of aspiration, failure, and ultimately death, depicting the double standard of the new society. The action of the play is confined to the relatively narrow setting of Rome and the court at Padua, hinting to the world beyond that of stage. Critics have often found the number of characters in The White Devil problematic, citing di fficulties in staging a production with so many bodies on stage. However, John Russell Brown (1940) has called attention to Websters power of using violent and crowded scenes for sudden and, therefore, striking manifestations of an individuals lies or hypocrisy, the â€Å"variety† of a â€Å"busy trade of life† (Brown 453). In the final act, the presence of so many members of the courtly society emphasises Flamineos fall from power, defining the extent of the competition for the Dukes favour and the uncertainty of Flamineos future now that his relationship with his master is ruined. As a young lord reports to Flamineo concerning Bracciano, A new vp-start: one that swears like a Falckner, and will lye in the Dukes eare day by day like a maker of Almanacks (V.i. 138-9). The White Devil deals with private behaviour made public, and public behaviour motivated by questionable private interests. Vittorias trial reveals her illicit liaison with Bracciano and the murderous consequences, but it is this public censure which results in private revenge. In comparison with Shakespearean tragedies such as Hamlet, or classical tragedies such as Oedipus Rex, the play is extremely social and emphasises Websters preoccupation with the intertwined spheres of public probity and private corruption. The White Devil focuses on the individuals freedom of choice between good and evil, human dignity and the fall from grace, binaries which appear to conform to the traditional Christian morality. Lodovico is accused by Antonelli and Gasparo: Worse then these, / You have acted certaine Murders here in Rome, / Bloody and full of horror (I.i.31-32), and Gasparo continues O my Lord / The law doth sometimes mediate, thinkes it good / Not ever to steepe violent sinnes in blood, / This gentle penance may both end your crimes, / And in the example better these bad times (I.i.33-37). Ludovico is presented a choice, but instead turns to criminality and revenge. His crimes have been presented, the possibility of reform and exoneration provided, and yet he wilfully chooses his course of conduct in spite of this. He exercises his free will, but unlike the Aristotelian tragic hero his destructive path is not redemptive in bringing out moral responsibility. The conclusion of The White Devil is ambig uous, fulfilling the catastrophic ending required of tragedy but without the suggestion of the nobility and greatness of man. Flamineo dies in despair of his worldly goods, wealth and advancement rather than in despair of his worthiness before God. There is the possibility of Flamineo accepting moral responsibility directly before his death as he reflects, While we looke up to heaven wee confound / Knowledge with knowledge (V.vi.259-60), and yet immediately before this he said , I doe not looke / Who went before, nor who shall follow mee; / Noe, at my self I will begin and end (V.vi.256-58). Although the play ends with the death of the tragic hero, as tradition dictates, this is not the satisfactory ending of classical tragedies. There is no remorse, no retraction of arrogance and greed in the face of the divine. As A.L. Kistner (1993) wondered, Where does it lie – in the triumph of will, in grabbing for every expression of self that this world has to offer or in the calm dis cipline of self-denial for a higher picture of man? (267). Webster leaves the audience with an unsatisfactory portrait of free choice and the capacity for moral responsibility. The emergence in the 1580s of an Elizabethan tragic tradition which manipulated the limitations of classical generic boundaries points toward the developing self-consciousness of a modern culture. As evidenced in such works as Tamburlaine and The White Devil, the theatre was the site of an evolving culture in conflict with the older, traditional forms of expression. Marlowe, Webster and Heywood used the stage for the assertion and defense of an ego which †¦ was constantly threatened by powerful forces of desire and conscience, forces which [they] coped with as best as [they] could by making them conscious, by finding a form for them which would command social understanding and the control of shared social attitudes (Barber 37). The new tragic genre was a way of registering an experience of change and di slocation, a shift from the Classical tradition of moral order and stability. Works Cited Aristotle, (1953) Aristotle on the Art of Fiction: an English translation of Aristotles Poetics. Trans. by L. J. Potts. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press. Barber, C. L. (1988) Creating Elizabethan Tragedy: the theatre of Marlowe and Kyd. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Bowers, F. T. (1940) Elizabethan Revenge Tragedy 1587-1642. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Brown, J. R. (1962) Theater research and the Criticism of Shakespeare and his Contemporaries Shakespeare Quarterly, 13 Falco, R. (2000) Charismatic Authority in Early Modern English Tragedy. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press. Goldberg, D. (1987) Between Worlds: A study of the plays of John Webster, Wilfrid Laurier University Press. Greenblatt, S. (1985) Invisible Bullets: Renaissance Authority and Its Subversion, Henry IV and Henry V in J. Dollimore and A. Sinfield, (eds.), Political Shakespeare: New Essays in Cultural Materialism , pp. 18-47. Manchester: Manchester University Press. - (1980) Renaissance Self-Fashioning: from More to Shakespeare. Chicago: Chicago University Press. Heywood, T. (1973) An Apology for Actors (1612). New York: Garland. (1961) A Woman Killed with Kindness. R. W. Van Fossen (ed). London: Mentheun Co. Kistner, A.L. and Kistner, M.K (1993) Free Choice in The White Devil English Studies, 74, no. 3: 258-267 Marlowe, C. (1993) Doctor Faustus. D. Bevington and E. Rasmussen (eds). Manchester: Manchester University Press. -(1995) Tamburlaine. D. Bevington and E. Rasmussen (eds). Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. Moretti, F. (1982) †A Huge Eclipse†: Tragic Form and the Deconsecration of Sovereignty, in The Power of Forms in the English Renaissance, S. Greenblatt (ed). Norman, Oklahoma: Pilgrim Books. Powell, C.L. (1917) English Domestic Relations 1487-1653. New York: Columbia University Press. Sidney, P. (1971) An Apologie for Poetrie. New York: De Capo Press. Webster, J. (1983) The Selected Play of John Webster. J. Dollimore and A. Sinfield (eds). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Re-creating Visions of Childhood in Livelys Oleander, Jacaranda :: Oleander Jacaranda

Re-creating Visions of Childhood in Lively's 'Oleander, Jacaranda'  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Penelope Lively's 'Oleander, Jacaranda' is a novella that incorporates three large, complex issues. Lively describes aspects of her childhood, discusses the philosophy behind these 'frozen moments' as she tells of the incidents she recollects and gives a thorough portrayal of Egypt in the nineteen thirties and forties. Lively uses a number of different techniques and language skills in this rather complicated novel. I will discuss the way she attempts to achieve this and will summarize with my personal opinion as to whether or not I think she succeeds. The author writes about the 'brilliant frozen moments' that are the static images from her childhood that are lodged firmly in her' head. I think the statement she makes regarding these 'moments' in that they are 'distorted by the wisdom's of maturity' is an accurate point to make. The images are presented in the present tense giving the feeling of realism to her childhood perceptions. I think Lively demonstrates her passion for these memories in the language she uses to describe them. The images are not always pleasant ones. For example, she writes about her fear of the animals that she doesn't understand: 'The stuffed form of a Nile catfish of great size' leaves her 'shuddering'. Her fear of the ferocious creatures that inhabit the environment she lives in are brought alive by her vivid descriptions. The lion house where the animals 'slink to and fro' harbors a potent 'unmistakable' smell, which she imagines she smells at Bulaq Dakhrur.   Here she illustrates her fear by the use of clipped short sentences that are questions as she is obviously uncertain for her safety as she'belts towards the house, given wings by primeval terror'. I think it is apparent that the frozen moments have remained with clarity in her mind due to the enormous emotional content of each one. She remembers leaving Bulaq Dakhrur and discovering the kit bags of the boys who never came back. At the beginning of Chapter 4, at the young age of six, she is taken by her mother (another unpleasant event linked with her mother) to a'pre-Dynastic burial' where she views a skeleton lying in the 'foetal position'- a startling juxtaposition of life next to death. At other times, she uses sensual descriptions to emphasise a single moment- 'the blurry chintz' the 'clacking needles' all sounds and textures and smells that engulfed her in her 'filmy white tent'. Re-creating Visions of Childhood in Lively's 'Oleander, Jacaranda' :: Oleander Jacaranda Re-creating Visions of Childhood in Lively's 'Oleander, Jacaranda'  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Penelope Lively's 'Oleander, Jacaranda' is a novella that incorporates three large, complex issues. Lively describes aspects of her childhood, discusses the philosophy behind these 'frozen moments' as she tells of the incidents she recollects and gives a thorough portrayal of Egypt in the nineteen thirties and forties. Lively uses a number of different techniques and language skills in this rather complicated novel. I will discuss the way she attempts to achieve this and will summarize with my personal opinion as to whether or not I think she succeeds. The author writes about the 'brilliant frozen moments' that are the static images from her childhood that are lodged firmly in her' head. I think the statement she makes regarding these 'moments' in that they are 'distorted by the wisdom's of maturity' is an accurate point to make. The images are presented in the present tense giving the feeling of realism to her childhood perceptions. I think Lively demonstrates her passion for these memories in the language she uses to describe them. The images are not always pleasant ones. For example, she writes about her fear of the animals that she doesn't understand: 'The stuffed form of a Nile catfish of great size' leaves her 'shuddering'. Her fear of the ferocious creatures that inhabit the environment she lives in are brought alive by her vivid descriptions. The lion house where the animals 'slink to and fro' harbors a potent 'unmistakable' smell, which she imagines she smells at Bulaq Dakhrur.   Here she illustrates her fear by the use of clipped short sentences that are questions as she is obviously uncertain for her safety as she'belts towards the house, given wings by primeval terror'. I think it is apparent that the frozen moments have remained with clarity in her mind due to the enormous emotional content of each one. She remembers leaving Bulaq Dakhrur and discovering the kit bags of the boys who never came back. At the beginning of Chapter 4, at the young age of six, she is taken by her mother (another unpleasant event linked with her mother) to a'pre-Dynastic burial' where she views a skeleton lying in the 'foetal position'- a startling juxtaposition of life next to death. At other times, she uses sensual descriptions to emphasise a single moment- 'the blurry chintz' the 'clacking needles' all sounds and textures and smells that engulfed her in her 'filmy white tent'.